


X-Files: The Absolution

by skinman



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Adoption, Adventure, Aliens, Baby, Drama, F/M, FBI, Family, Future Fic, Gen, Government Conspiracy, Multi, Mystery, Reunion, Romance, Sci-Fi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-02-06 05:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1845256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skinman/pseuds/skinman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An orphan named William, a brilliant 16 year old hacker, a missing soldier, a little boy with questionable origins, and, of course, government conspiracy, secrets, aliens, our two iconic agents, and some old friends.<br/>Multi-chapter. Set in 2017.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Denville, NJ

_Prologue:_

“Scully?” He murmured, his low voice still heavy with sleep.

He walked from the dark of the hallway into the dim light of the sitting room. The bare flesh of the soles of his feet echoed a muffled slap that could only be heard in the drawn silence. His familiar presence warmed the air behind her, it danced down her spine and the muscles in her shoulders tensed up and released, disguised from him as a heavy sigh.

She’d been stood at the front window for a while now. Time seemed immaterial so early in the morning, when there was nowhere to be and nothing to do but wait for the sun. Light was breaking over the shrubbery that lay so still, as if it too were holding its breath for the dawn, with no rogue gusts of wind to ruffle and disturb it.

He didn’t say anything, but moved even closer. Hooking an arm softly around her and pressing his lips to her pale red hair in a faint kiss. He smoothed a thumb over the silky fabric of her pyjama top where it was loose at her waist.

After a moment Mulder asked simply and softly, “What?” and waited for an answer.

“I’m happy,” She said.

Mulder waited a while longer.

Scully moistened her lips, “But I feel… I could be happier.”

Mulder’s chest expanded, brushing against her shoulder blades. The hand that rested on her waist moved to claim her hand, but he stayed behind her, allowing her to keep on gazing out at the hazy landscape. Her eyes trailing the winding dusty driveway that led to their front door. _‘Their front door’,_ it was such a commonplace thing to be dazed by. Sometimes it hit him, what’d they been through, that they were still here, that they now led something approaching a normal life. Disconnected from the world, out on their own little metaphorical island, but at least now free to be as much a part of the world as they wished. But as often she was when it came to these things, Scully was right.

“We have a home.” He stated.

“No, Mulder…” Scully glanced down at where her hand curled into his, then looked back out through the smudged glass, “we say that but… we have a house.”

Mulder rested his forehead in the crook of her neck, letting his eyelids flutter closed. “Maybe... we should go away for a while,”

 

* * *

 

 

“Van De Kamp? If you could just try putting your pen on your paper at some point this session.” Dr Hawley drawled from where he sat behind his desk at the front a Math classroom full of drowsy 12th grade boys, some of whom looked up inquisitively to glance at their fellow student as his name was mentioned.

William Van De Kamp's eyes flickered, light through the clouds of the steely blue of a sky before a storm, as he directed his attention from his daydreams to his exasperated teacher. He brought the end of his pen away from his bottom lip, where it had been resting.

“Yes Sir,” The seventeen year-old mumbled, the muscles in his jaw twitching, as he leaned over his work begrudgingly.

There was a sudden nervous rap on the door. The class looked up expectantly.

“Enter.” Dr Hawley said without looking up, bent over the paperwork on his desk.

A wide-eyed 9th grader entered the room, clutching a blue slip, “William Van De Kamp to see Principal Ridley immediately?”

William’s eyebrows jumped a little in confusion.

Dr Hawley regarded William, meeting the boy’s eyes, sighing he said, “Off you go then, Son, don’t keep him waiting.”

William nodded and collected his books. He stuffed them in his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder and straightening the blue blazer of his uniform. Rushing past the 9th grader he took the blue slip. He made sure to center his striped maroon tie and double check his pale blue shirt was tucked properly into his pants. He strode uncertainly through the hallways of Emmanuel Prep. All traditionally decorated wood and beaten carpet, lined with cabinets brimming with artefacts detailing the school's achievements. The school _'dedicated to ensuring your son a successful future',_ just more proof he didn't belong here. He wasn't anyone's son. Not anymore.

 He hadn't done anything to merit this summoning, not as far as he could remember anyway. He was pretty sure he’d been nothing but exactly what was expected; obedient, punctual, presentable.

Reaching the door of the Principal’s office, his elderly female secretary gave the boy a small smile, glancing over her reading glasses at him. She told him “You can go straight in.”

William puffed out his chest a little, and straightened up, to help give off a slight air of confidence before knocking and entering. He was greeted by the sight of the greying Principal Ridley waiting for him in his armchair on the other side of large dark wood desk, with a thin-lipped facade of a smile. The office, to William, was always a little reminiscent of the Oval Office. Two large american flags, bigger than the ones in the classrooms, graced the space behind the desk. Just in case anyone forgot what country they were in.

“Mr Van De Kamp,” The 60-something year-old held out his hand.

Professor Gerald Ridley was a 'good enough' man as far as William could tell... He wanted what was best for ‘his boys’, but the man was notoriously pushy, competitive, close-minded, and, not to mention, ruthless. Apart from that the man was simply boring; an average but privileged man, with an average but privileged life. A wife and two sons. Weekends at the lake. Spring break camping and fishing trips. Weekend golf with a group of men with the same background and experiences as him.. Exactly the kind of person William wanted to avoid becoming.

William walked over to grip it firmly, “Sir.”

His hand were soft. The hands of a man who'd never done a days physical labour in his life. William could imagine a tiny Principal Ridley; a toddler, surrounded by expensive toys, an army of nannies to wait on him, land to play in, never going to bed hungry, or cold, or unloved. A doting mother to kiss his scraped knees better. A proud father to perch on the shoulders of so he could grasp at the stars. Never being told they weren't his to claim. William knew hating this man wouldn't do him any favours, but...

“Take a seat please, William.” Ridley gestured to the two smaller armchairs opposite him on the other side of his stately desk, complete with a pot full of perfectly sharpened pencils and a couple of photo frames full of images of his wife and boys.

William settled in one and ran a nervous hand through his dark copper hair, the once rugged locks cut into a casual short layered style at the school's request, to help blend in at the elite academy full of the sons of politician’s and rich geniuses as best he could.

“How are you Van De Kamp? How’s school?” Ridley folded his hands in front of himself on the desk, smiling falsely.

William frowned, swallowing the distaste that rose up in the back of his throat, “It's good..." William paused, "You have my report open on your computer, Sir?”

“How’d you know that?” Ridley asked, the smile dissolving as he glanced at the screen of his computer.

William gestured to the glass trophy cabinet behind Ridley. “I could see it reflected in the glass, Sir,” he stated, referring to the faint reflection of the screen that swum on the glass.

A light flashed in Ridley’s eyes. “Observant, I like that.” This time when he smiled it was small and seemed genuine. Turning his gaze back to his screen he appraised William as he appeared on paper.

 _'Smart boy, could be great, leader? professor?’_ William winced at the sharp voice in his mind, losing his focus on the principal as he endured the pain like a blunt knife being dragged across his brain. His shoulders tensed, eyes watering.

 

Ridley noticed the student’s body language and faltered, “You alright, Van De Kamp?”

 

William blinked, “Yes. I have a small headache, Sir. It’ll pass,” he lied.

 

“You know why you’re in here?” Ridley asked.

 

“No, Sir.”

 

“Well, William, I am very aware of your achievements. Your grades are exemplary. You’ve contributed to the winning of numerous competitions for the school, both academically and athletically. Your attendance record is untarnished. There is also a list of extracurricular activities I won’t delve too much into.” Ridley listed off accomplishments one by one, and William wondered where he was going with all of this.

 

“But? Sir?” William prompted, eager to know what the problem was already.

 

“But, i'm afraid, it’s the social aspect of your school life your teachers and I worry about. You spend your time… isolated.”

William pursed his lips.

“I believe Dr Anderson spoke to you on the matter two months ago. Good social skills are beyond important to potential employers and essential in business and in politics.” 

 

“But, Sir,” William interjected, “I have no interest in business, or politics. I want to be a geneticist.”

 

“Don’t interrupt Van De Kamp!” Ridley slammed his hand down. Quickly composing himself he leant back, folded his hands, and continued, “You may change your mind. It doesn’t matter either way, it’s still very important in university interviews. Connections and relationships are important; you can't row a boat without the paddles.”

 

“Yes, Sir,” William muttered, clenching his teeth so as to try not to betray emotion. He had no idea what Principal Ridley was trying to get at with that analogy, but he wasn't going to make more trouble.

 

“I know life hasn’t been gentle with you William," His word's caught William's attention, "but you’re in a good place now. You have a very bright future ahead of you if you heed my words.”

 

“You read my personal file?" William asked rhetorically, "Sir?" he added, aware of the harshness in his tone. William felt a little uneasy at the thought of a man like this flicking through pages upon pages of his past.

 

“The death of your parents must have been truly traumatic, especially with how they died. Then your foster mother passed away, Mrs Stacy, was it? Such a sad story.”  The principal recalled insensitively.

 

William remembered Lillian and Rob Stacy well. He’d stayed with them for almost a year, longer than he did most. 

 

After his adoptive parents had died he’d been put into care. There’d been talk that he might be adopted again, if the agency worked fast, but no one wanted a mute, distrusting, emotionally damaged two year old that cried himself to sleep. William had house jumped, from foster carer to foster carer for years. He was 10 when the Stacy’s took him in. In retrospect they were nothing special really. They were in their forties with a grown daughter and had treated him well, like their own even. William got his hopes up that they would adopt him, but then there was the 'incident', and he’d ended up here, on the other side of the country, New Jersey. William had long since given up on the idea of finding a new family. Maybe he’d never been meant to have one.

 

“They weren’t my parents,” William said quietly, blinking rapidly to banish a tear.

 

“Hm?” Ridley frowned.

 

“Mr and Mrs Van De Kamp took me in when I was 11 months old and then died just over a year later; I don’t know who my parents are. I have the Van De Kamp’s name, Sir, but that’s it.” William paused, knowing the Principal was wondering how he knew all the details, “I read my file too.”

It was quite ironic really; if you added the months of pregnancy with his age when adopted, you came to a year and eight months, the longest he’d ever been with a family was a year and three. So... it seemed the people who seemingly hadn’t wanted him had had him the longest. But, then again, there was the question that had come to haunt William more and more as he'd gotten older; ‘If his parent’s hadn’t wanted him, why had they kept him so many months after his birth?'. When he was younger he hadn't given it much thought, but now, in light of the knowledge he would never have a new family, it was in the forefront of his mind most days. 

 

“William. Just think about what I’ve said.” Ridley offered.

 

“Yes.” William made to stand saying, “If I may, Sir. I don’t believe I got called to see you directly just because of this.”

 

Ridley let out a breath and clenched his fists, “I wanted to tell you in person that I have contacted your lead carer at St Paul’s and recommended that your therapy sessions be increased as of now.” William died a little inside; there was nothing he hated more than someone prodding at his thoughts as though a hunter poking a wild animal. Seeing how far they could go without it pouncing. He'd thought therapy was about support, but really he just felt more like an experiment; a maimed insect under a microscope.

 

“Okay, Sir,” William scowled and left the office. He closed the door behind himself just as the bell rang for the end of the day.

It took him a 10 minute wait and two buses to get back to St Paul’s Orphanage. A state run facility for boys aged 9 to 18, it provided an alternative to boys who were less suited to the foster care system and had an onsite child psychologist, Dr Rhodes, and the therapist Principal Ridley had mentioned, Dr Patel. Basically, it was a place for kids who hadn't made it in the adoption system because they were 'damaged goods', as Micah put it.

 

"Will!" A skinny 10 year old tackled William as he entered St Paul's, closely followed by a sleepy but excitable golden retriever.

"Noah!" William growled jokingly, grabbing the younger boy with a grunt as Noah tried to escape and lifted him off his feet. Noah giggled. The dog barked insistently, "Hey to you too, Captain." Will grinned at the dog, and reached out a hand, still gripping the little boy to his chest with the other, to pat Captain on the head.

Noah Macy had been born in Maine to an unprepared seventeen year old mother who'd tried to raise him alone. She'd eventually accepted defeat when Noah was four, having lessened his chances by keeping him as long as she did he was never adopted, and Noah, not unlike William, had jumped from home to home until being placed at St Paul's where he could get help for his ADHD and Insomnia.

He was so sweet a kid, when William had first met him he hadn't believed a family hadn't wanted him; he was adorable with slightly curly auburn locks, wide bright blue eyes, and a goofy smile that could melt hearts. Noah reminded William a lot of himself, a kid who had been swept aside simply because they didn't fit the mold adoptive parents wanted them to. He even kind of looked like a miniature version of him; anyone who saw them together would be likely to jump to the conclusion they were brothers.

William placed Noah back on the carpet and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't suppose you've seen Micah, have you?" William glanced around for a sign of the older boy.

"Court." Noah told him, lifting an arm to point in the direction of the basketball court.

Micah was possibly William's best friend; their relationship was based purely on a mutual understanding, their hatred of the system, and a love of basketball.

Micah understood what it was like to be given up, passed along time after time like nothing more than a parcel that can never seem to find its destination.

Micah Valentino Ezra Ramos had been born in central San Diego. Given up for adoption as a small baby, it was soon discovered he had a heart condition and he'd been flown across to the other side of the country for treatment. The condition left him with almost no adoption prospects being that he was in and out of hospital for years after his birth, and possible adoptive parents aren't really keen on taking babies straight off the operating table.

Micah had found his birth parents a year ago, his mother in a San Diego cemetery and his father in an apartment in Santa Maria, all after months of searching, beginning just after his sixteenth birthday. Micah's father, Javier Ramos, was married with three sons. While being a nice enough man, he'd had no real interest in getting to know the product of a mistake he'd made over seventeen years ago. Micah had spoken to him a couple of times during his visit to California, but he knew there was no future, no real family, there. He'd come home bitterly disappointed.

"Mick!" William called out cheerily, half skidding, half running down the gravel path to the basketball court.

The seventeen year old spun to look at his friend, disregarding the basketball he'd just chucked at the hoop. He had dark eyes the colour of a mahogany under profound ink black brows that matched his shaggy hair. The young man was all straight edges, lanky, with bony knees and elbows, and prominent cheekbones.

William didn't quite have the same build. He was nearly as tall as Micah, but a little broader, with a strong back and squarer shoulders.

"Will? What's up?" Micah said, jogging over to scoop up the ball before turning to walk toward William.

"Not much," William paused, "I just need to talk to you, about the thing we talked about before."

The atmosphere went a little colder.

Micah sighed, "Don't bother, Will. Trust me. You'll only end up disappointed, I mean, they gave us up for a reason, Dude."

"That's why! I have to know why, Mick!" William yelled, then immediately regretted shouting at his friend, "Sorry."

Micah turned the ball with his fingertips, deliberating, slowly he looked up. "Okay Van De Kamp, but you owe me."

"Yeah?" William smirked at Micah.

"Eighteen tomorrow, Man," Micah said, tucking the ball under his arm so he could slap William on the back. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

 

"Happy Birthday, Poopbrain!" A shrill laugh woke William, and he could hear the squeak of the mattress springs as a mischievous ten year old bounced on the end of his bed, bouncing William's body with him.

William shot up, to grab the little boy who squealed and yelped. William was suddenly overcome with affection for Noah, dressed in Spiderman pyjamas and wriggling in his arms, he clutched him tight to his chest. It was perhaps a little weird how they'd mutually imprinted on each other. The day Noah arrived at St Pauls William had just taken it upon himself to keep and eye on Noah, to make sure he settled in okay, and then Noah had taken to him, and that was that.

"You're a pain in the ass, Noah, you know that?" William grumbled as he placed his chin on the wriggling boy's shoulder.

Noah yelled, "You just said a bad word? You said the A word, Will!"

"I'm eighteen now I can say ass if I want!"

William let Noah go, propped up his pillows and propped his back up on them. Noah leant back against him, placing his head against William's shoulder trustingly.

"I got you a present." Noah smiled up at him, holding out a rectangular parcel wrapped roughly in pages from an old comic book.

"Wolverine, huh? What did he do to end up being used as wrapping paper?"

"Joey stole some pages, I couldn't read it anymore." Noah explained, referring to his eleven year old roommate. Just one of the charms of living in a home of 20 adolescent boys was getting anything and everything permanently 'borrowed'.

"Sorry Wolverine," William muttered as he tore open the present. When he saw what was inside his stomach somersaulted. Drawing out a picture frame from beneath the folds of paper; it was dark wood with a word engraved on it. William grinned even wider as he read it, _'brothers'_. The photo in the center had been taken a month ago. He and Noah were sat on the beach in wetsuits, sprinkled head to toe in sand, the glaring sun shining brightly to the right. They were sporting identical smirks as they perched on a surfboard. William had his arm tightly round Noah's shoulders as he held the boy to his side.

Noah shrugged, "Sorry it's not a very exciting present. I heard you might be leaving, so… I wanted you to have something so you don't forget me." Noah's head lolled a little.

William blinked away a tear, "Come here." He pulled Noah in for a hug, the boy's head resting in the crook of his neck. "You're my favourite person, okay, whatever happens that's not going to change."

A tear fell on Noah's neck. "Are you crying?" he asked.

William laughed. "Yeah, a bit." He sniffed.

There was knock on the door as Noah pulled away, and a whispered voice sounded through the wood, "Will, I got it. I got it, Dude."

William placed the photo frame on his nightstand. "Come on in, Micah." William answered, getting up to meet his best friend as he entered, closing the door softly behind him.

Noah crawled to the end of the bed and knelt up on his knees so he could get a closer look at what Micah was holding so tightly.

It was a light brown file with 'private' stamped across it and 'William Alexander Van De Kamp' written neatly in a box in the right top corner. It was his personal file.

"I've…," William frowned, looking up at his friend, "I've already read this."

"No you haven't" Micah shook his head, tapping the file. "This copy is from Dr Patel's office safe, there's stuff that wasn't scanned into the computer you got into. They've only got one or two hard copies of the papers. One is in a government office somewhere; the other is, of course, in the hands of your therapist."

"You broke into his safe?" William exclaimed, eyes widening, opening the file and turning round to place it on his desk.

"Yeah, last night, I got bored. Consider it your birthday present because I'm broke." Micah shrugged. He sat down next to Noah and ruffled the kid's hair. "Morning, Noah."

William sifted through the papers, putting the one's he'd seen to one side. His adoption papers, test results, list of vaccinations, hospital bills, school records. Then he began to get to the stuff he hadn't seen; therapist notes, foster reports (his foster parents had been reporting on him? He didn't know they did that.), …his birth certificate. His hands were shaking, his stomach was like rock, weighing him down, and honestly he thought he was going to throw up. His eyes trailed down the paper. He was sweating as he read.

_'State of Georgia, record of live birth.'_

_'Child's name (First, last, suffix): William, Scully._

_'Date of birth: May 16th 2001.'_

_'Child's birthplace: Democrat Hot Springs, Georgia.'_

_'Sex: Male.'_

_'Mother's name:'_ William forgot to breathe. _'Dana Katherine Scully.'_ He didn't even try to hold back the tears this time.

_'Mother's birthplace: Annapolis, Maryland.'_

_'Mother's date of birth: 23rd of February 1964. Age: 37.'_

_'Father's name:'_ He blinked, _'Undisclosed.'_

"No," William muttered.

_'Father's birthplace: Undisclosed._

_'Father's date of birth: Undisclosed._

_'Father's age: Undisclosed.'_

"What is it, Will?" Micah murmured.

"Scully?" William liked it, it was simple, strong, no fuss so muss, and his.

"What?" Noah scrunched up his nose, confused.

"My name is William Scully. I'm from Georgia apparently, or I was born there at least." He turned to face them, his eyes bloodshot, hands shaking.

"And… your parents?" Micah prompted.

"My mother, she's a woman named 'Dana Scully'." William smiled weakly, "I don't know about my dad."

"What do you mean?" Micah was shocked, moving to get a closer look, "What the hell does it mean by 'undisclosed'?"

"It basically means they know but they don't want to put it on paper. Not this version anyway." William said bitterly, grinding his teeth.

"Well, you can still find your mom!" Noah chirped, "And she'll know who he is."

William lifted his gaze to meet Noah's hopeful one, "Yeah, I just… it doesn't make any sense."

"Dude, this was in Dr Patel's 'safe'." Micah emphasised, "Who the hell is your dad that they can't even put him on this version of the certificate?" He continued to stare at the document in bewilderment. "Damn... what if he's someone really important or famous or something?"

William ignored Micah's last statement and continued to work through the file. He found next a set of blood test results labelled 'confidential', squinting he settle on just reading the conclusive statement written by a doctor at the foot of the page;  _'14% abnormal DNA detected. Origin: Known . Subordinate abnormal DNA suggests post-insemination inter-uterine osmosis of known mutated ova, as opposed to insemination pertaining to abnormal DNA (further tests required to confirm). Distant contact surveillance required, time period: Indefinite.' _Child valid: DNA acquired for FX90-7.'__

William struggled to understand it all, and apparently Micah did even more so, saying bluntly, "I don't understand a word of that."

"I think…" William furrowed his brow, understanding but not quite believing what he was reading, "I think it's saying that my DNA is different in some way. That my mother's eggs were somehow mutated, that I mutated while I was a foetus but wasn't anything to do with my father's DNA. That they took samples of my DNA for some reason too."

"But you're okay," Noah said from his spot on the bed. "Aren't you?" William looked right into Noah's gaze.

_'William...'._

"I think so. I… I don't know," William answered truthfully. If there was something different with his DNA it might explain a lot. 

"What about that last bit?" Micah pointed to the bottom of the sheet.

"Distant contact surveillance required, time period: Indefinite." William read aloud, and the world seemed to grow colder.

"What does it mean, Will?"

"It means they've been watching me..., the foster reports, the tests, the therapy... I need to get out of here." William decided, dropping the file on his desk and charging over to his closet. "I have some big questions for my mother."

"You're crazy! What are you going to do, run away?"

William turned to glare at Micah, "That's exactly what I'm doing." He pulled a large black backpack out the bottom of the closet. 

"You're coming back though!" Noah panicked.

" 'Course, and I'll send you a postcard." William smirked nervously.

"And how exactly are you planning on finding her?" Micah's words caused William to pause a second. "Hold on," Micah sighed, and flipped open the laptop on the desk. He sat down in front of it, typing 'Dana Scully' into the search engine. "Google is your friend, Will."

"Make sure you use the incognito window thing."

"Yeah, they won't know how to get past that." Micah answered with dismissive sarcasm, but did it anyway.

He clicked the first web link to pop up. It was a news site for Washington DC, with an article titled, 'Doctor Saves Terminal 4th grader!' that went on to read, 'Doctor Dana Scully of Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital, Arlington...'

Micah snickered, throwing his friend a sideways glance, "She's literally a brain surgeon. I should've known."

William continued to pack frantically, stuffing a pile of shirts in the bag haphazardly, "Where is she?"

"St Tomas Street, Arlington, DC. Right down the block from Arlington Hall station. You should be able to get there in six hours easily." William nodded and quickly pulled on some jeans and a blue button-down shirt.

Noah took the frame he'd given William from the nightstand and placed it on top of his packed belongings. He caught William's eye.

"I'll see you soon." William placed a hand on Noah's head, as the younger boy threw his arms around him, almost like a blessing.

"Good luck," Noah said quietly, his voice muffled by the fabric of William's shirt.

"What do I tell everyone? They'll know you're gone by six pm at most, probably earlier." Micah was standing now, arms crossed.

"Mick." William clasped his friend on the shoulder and breathed out heavily, "Tell them… I went out. I'm eighteen now what can they do?"

"Yeah." Micah rolled his eyes. "I guess, good luck then... Scully," he said, still a little reluctant.

William reached over to collect the file from his desk, tucking it into one of the pockets of his bag he gave his room one last cursory look over. He noticed Noah was pouting a little.

William knelt down in beside the bed to face him, "'No matter where we are, remember?'" Noah nodded solemnly.

William swung his bag onto his back, grabbed his black jacket from the back of his desk chair and strode out the room before he could change his mind. He kept a steady pace right up until he was on the rattling south bound train to Washington DC.


	2. Philadelphia, PA

William stared out the rattling train window dozily, barely paying attention to the music sounding from his ear buds. He didn't even notice when they pulled into a station, just west of Philadelphia.

The boy's anxiety only grew in the peace of the moment. What was he going to do when he got to DC anyway? Turn up at his mother's workplace? He'd been so eager to get out of there he'd barely formed a plan at all.

Then someone tapped on his shoulder insistently, "Hey!"

William jumped.

He scrambled to remove his ear buds and face the stranger. His heart leapt into his throat, fearing that it was somehow a carer from St. Pauls, the police, or even the FBI... someone that was going to drag him back home.

Instead what he saw were a pair of rich earth brown eyes framed with thin, dark eyeliner, staring right back at him. She was about his age he guessed, though she was fairly small, maybe 5,3 ... or 5'4. A silver necklace in the shape of some strange cross hung from her neck, and her left ear was pierced once in the lobe and twice in the cartridge. Her hair framed her face in golden browns, like maple syrup spilling slowly into honey. Messy, easy waves that curled at the ends. She said something.

"Sor… sorry?" He stuttered, confused. What on earth did she want?

She regarded him inquisitively, cocking her head. "Can I sit down?" The girl gestured to the seat next to him, currently occupied by his bulging backpack.

"Oh, sure! Sorry." William fumbled to remove the bag, a little skittish from the fright this stranger had given him.

"That's okay." She smiled politely, "You know they have baggage areas, right?" The girl said pointing to the baggage compartments situated above their heads.

"I prefer to keep it where I can see it." William shrugged.

She grabbed her own bag; a large military issue backpack with the name 'PARKER' embroided in capitals on the stained khaki canvas fabric that didn't exactly fit with the rest of her. The girl grunted involuntarily as she tried to lift the obviously heavy bag far enough to cram it in the compartment. She pursed her lips in frustration, her freckle adorned nose scrunched up.

William couldn't just sit and watch it. "Here, let me help." He said, puffing out his cheeks and getting up, he reached out and lifted the bag up and into the baggage area with one arm as if it were no heavier than a feather. He normally tried to act like he was weaker than he was, so as to not draw attention to himself, but he was emotionally exhausted and distracted.

The girl brought her gaze up to meet his, those eyes boring into him questioningly. Her lips were slightly parted in what seemed like a mix of awe, puzzlement, and annoyance. "I could have got it." She said.

William gulped, moving his gaze from hers, and sat back down. He didn't doubt it.

"You in training to be Captain America or something?" The girl raised an eyebrow as she sat beside him.

"No... blue and red aren't my colours." William joked dryly without a second thought, thinking about how fighting for the US government couldn't sound much worse to him right now; he regretted it as soon as he said it so confusion hit him as she sniggered, leaning back in her seat.

"Me neither. I'm Felicity Parker by the way, well actually Felicity is my middle name… but no one calls me Penelope. I don't know why." The girl turned her head and held out her hand, smiling with genuine warmth.

"William…" He paused, "William Scully," he decided, taking her hand. She was nice, very talkative, which he liked in a person. It left little room for awkward silences.

"So, where you headed William Scully?" It felt good to hear someone call him that.

"DC." He told her, running a nervous hand through his hair; he never spoke to strangers, ever. Felicity Parker though, she seemed like one of those people that could make just about anyone their friend.

"Me too! Arlington Station." She grinned as she drew a chocolate bar out of her denim jacket, unwrapping it and biting off a square.

"Same." William observed her. His eyes drawn to the chocolate bar.

Felicity obviously saw him looking; the side of her mouth drawing up and dimples appeared as she broke off a piece and held it out to him.

William shook his head violently as they exited central Philadelphia. "Sorry, no, I'm okay."

"No, it's okay." Felicity held the piece out further insistently. "Take it before it melts."

William hesitated but then took it and popped the whole thing in his mouth. It was good chocolate, not that cardboard like stuff. It was creamy, melt-in-your mouth, wonderful chocolate. He hummed at the sensation.

"So, why you headed to DC?" She asked, taking another bite of the bar.

William thought quickly, "Visiting my Mom." He shrugged. Yes, that was the safest bet. It wasn't really lying either.

"Going to see my brother. Air Corps." Felicity explained simply.

William nodded. "That explains the bag. I thought you were a little young to be in the military... and red and blue aren't your colours." He joked and examined her features, expecting her to smile, which she did, but there was something else there. Hidden and yet so plainly obvious to him, there it was, absolute irrevocable pain and grief.

Then William did something he'd never done before. He didn't know why but he did. For a long time he'd guarded himself from looking at people a little too closely, investing himself in their emotions, but today was today, and this girl intrigued him. Felicity Parker, there was something there. 

But concentrating on Felicity, he only found one word, a name, _'Jonah.'_ Repeated, over and over. It was at the forefront of her mind. Constant. Eager. Her smile morphed slowly, without thought, until it looked broken. 

"Hey, Felicity, it's okay."

Felicity just looked up to meet his eyes, looking into them as though he was an 1000 piece puzzle with half the pieces missing, she let a pause linger.

"How?"

"We've all got baggage." He said solemnly, squeezing Felicity's shoulder lightly.

Her eyes glinted once more, "Did you just make a pun?"

"Yes, I think so, sorry about that." William apologised and grinned at the floor. Words came more easily to him than they had before. Maybe this was good. Maybe this was meant to be. He was a new person. He was free, and it was the most beautiful feeling.

"Has anyone ever told you you apoligise a lot?" Felicity asked, smiling.

A loud bang and a squeal rattled the carriage before William could reply, the train came to a sudden halt. After a second or two William banished his initial shocked reaction and peered out the window. They were in the middle of nowhere. William growled and slammed a fist against the window. His gasp muffled the crack. A small scar appeared in the glass where he'd made contact. William stuffed his hand into his pocket and glanced around to check for witnesses to the event.

Just then a train attendant came through the door at the front of the carriage. The attendant tried to smile though his teeth were gritted, "Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm afraid we're experiencing some minor difficulties with the engine. We'll be up and running as soon as possible. We apologise thoroughly for the delay."

Three hours, a cup of coffee and a long conversation later Felicity was sat with her legs crossed facing William as they talked.

"So what are you running away from?" Felicity asked casually, picking at her tights.

"Sorry?"

"You have that sort of crazed 'I'm free and I have no idea what I'm doing' look in your eyes." She stated.

William was speechless for a second, then he realised something, "So do you." He muttered.

Felicity sighed, "I know... Want to know what I'm running from? My oblivious and judgmental parents. Now you go?"

William laughed, then quickly felt bad "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just a little ironic."

Felicity raised a brow.

"You're running away from your parents. I'm running to mine ...I've never actually met them before."

She gasped, pointing a finger at him with glee, "I knew it! Your trying to find your birth parents, aren't you? I thought so…"

"How did you?" William tried to interject.

Felicity continued to ramble, "That's so cool."

"Felicity!" William exclaimed, gaining her attention, "How did you know I didn't know them?"

She licked her lips and turned her gaze to where his bag sat on the floor, "Your bag is tagged."

William grabbed the backpack off the floor to examine the white plastic tag attached to the handle 'property of St Paul's Orphanage'. How on earth had be not noticed that?

He attempted to pull the tag off put it held fast. "I'll take that into consideration next time I'm running away." William paused, "I don't suppose you have a black pen?"

Felicity handed him a black sharpie from her satchel. William began to violently colour in the words.

After a minute of watching him scribble over the letters Felicity spoke, "Did you hate it there?"

William stilled his hand for a second, looking up with a pained expression, "No. The boys there were like brothers to me. It was an all-boys Orphanage, so no sisters. It's funny actually. I think this is the longest conversation I've ever had with a girl, or probably anyone else for that matter."

"If you were so happy there…" Felicity tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously, "…why leave?"

William returned to colouring in the white, his eyes trained to what was left of the words, "Because I need to find the truth." He gritted his teeth as he scribbled out the final part of the final word. 'Orphan' disappeared with a few marks of the pen.

The train came to life with rumble. The light's flickered, plunging him in and out of darkness.

The cheer of other passengers almost drowned her words, but William thought he heard Felicity softly murmur, "Me too."

The sun had gone down by the time their train finally got to DC. It was dimly lit and quiet in the station, with the light of the city shining through a vaulted glass ceiling. A few businessmen and women swiftly strode past William as he exited the train, swinging his bag over his shoulder. Their watches flashing as they checked the time, straightening their suits. William wanted to go to the hospital immediately, mainly because he had no idea where else to go, but he had no idea if she'd be there either. He had so many burning questions that he needed answered, however, it seemed like they'd have to wait.

It was small for a city station, with only four platforms, but a high ceiling. An information desk and taxi service desk were lined up to his right. A rack of pamphlets and leaflets were fixed to the brick wall to his left. Stairs leading up to the city lay in front of him. Why was he hesitating? Maybe he needed a minute to take it all in. The fact he'd done it. Run away from everything. This morning he'd been woken up by Noah in his bed at St. Paul's. Noah, he missed the little boy already. 

William crossed his arms and pretended to be interested in the floor as a group of four boys walked past, intimidated as they laughed hard. One looked about William's age, the others maybe a year to two years older. They didn't look like trouble but he didn't want to draw attention to himself anyway.

"Hey!" One of them called out, still chuckling from something one of his friends had said. William tensed before he realised they weren't talking to him. He turned to look where the boys were looking to see Felicity over by the rack full of leaflets, giving them the dirtiest scowl, her mouth pressed closed. An attitude very different to the one she'd shown him earlier. She was scared. Humans are animals, and William knew this much, when some animals feel threatened, however scared they are, they don't show fear lest it be interpreted as weakness. They just get angry.

"You need some help, Sweetheart?" The boy who had called out to her before asked, gesturing to the map of Arlington she was holding, smiling in a manner that made William's jaw tighten.

"I'm fine, thank you." Felicity said, folding her arms over her chest defensively and concentrating her gaze on the map in her hand.

"Come on, Dude." The oldest of the boys suggested, "Leave her alone, let's go."

The guy ignored his friend and continued, placing a hand on Felicity's shoulder in a way that made William feel nauseous, "Come on, I'm just trying to be helpful."

Felicity ignored him, clenching her teeth. She shrugged her shoulder but still the guy kept his hand on her. Something akin to rage seared behind her dark eyes.

"Okay!" William had decided staying out of it wasn't an option as soon as the boy had put his hand on her. He strode up to stand behind Felicity and stare the guy down. "How about you just move on now, okay?"

"Why?" The guy huffed. He removed his hand from Felicity's shoulder and placed it on her waist.

William noticed her jaw tremor.

"Who are you?" The guy said, glowering at William.

William opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out.

As it turns out, it didn't matter, because Felicity got their first. She reared back and brought her knee swiftly up into the guy's crotch, sending his sprawling onto the floor, whimpering in pain.

 His friends stood awkwardly behind him, hands in their pockets, obviously embarrassed.

"Come on, Man." One of them tugged on the guy's jacket, pulling him roughly up off the floor.

When they were gone, William gulped, "That was…." He didn't know what to say.

"Sorry." Felicity muttered softly.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay." William went to place a friendly hand on her shoulder, and then thought better of it. Drawing his hand back stiffly, he sent her a small smile. "Goodbye, Felicity."

"Bye, William. Good luck."

He turned to walk away, checking his money, all 20 dollars of it. Mulling over what he planned to do next. Where was he going to get a room for 20 dollars.

"Wait William, where are you planning to stay?"

He turned back but stayed silent, opening and closing his mouth, not wanting to admit he had absolutely no idea.

"It's just…," Felicity tucked her hair behind her ear nervously, not sure where to put her hand afterward she crossed and uncrossed her arms before sticking her hands firmly in her pockets. "This going to sound strange." She stated, "I was wondering if you could do me a favour. Where you're staying. Could I stay with you?" She tensed, squeezing her eyes shut, as if she realised how that sounded, sucking in a breath. "There! Could I stay there? Not with you. On the floor or something. I didn't expect to have to find a room for the night and most places won't rent to minors and I don't have ID."

"Um…" William's brow furrowed, pausing in thought.

"Sorry. Don't feel bad about turning me way. I just thought I'd ask." Felicity began to walk away.

He'd just met her. Even if they had spent the whole afternoon talking. He shouldn't trust her. The thing is… he did.

"Felicity." He caught her arm as she walked past him toward the exit. "It's not that I won't help you. I can't." His eyes flickered around. Speaking softly he said, "I don't have anywhere to go either. I thought you'd be staying with your brother anyway?"

She looked away, blinking rapidly, absentmindedly fingering a medal pinned to the strap of her large backpack, her brother's backpack. William recognised it instantly, it was the Medal of Honour. A five pronged star with the image of the statue of liberty at it's center, hanging from a light blue ribbon.

William stared at the cold metal plate, "Oh, Felicity. I didn't realise when you said you were visiting…" How hadn't he guessed that, with the grief in her eyes, and the location? Arlington National Cemetery wasn't far from here.

There were tears in her eyes, but she kept a straight face, "His Sergeant came to our door a few months back."

"I'm sorry..." William felt helpless watching Felicity silently cry in front of him.

"He's not dead. They told me he died but…" Her eyes brimmed not only with tears but fierce determination.

William was perplexed. "Why would they lie?"

"I don't know why. I just know they did. I hacked into their server, and he wasn't even on deployment at the time he died, but we were told he died in action. How is that possible?" Felicity looked into his eyes; searching for some sign he didn't think she was crazy.

"You hacked into the US Military Secure Server?" William said softly, gazing at Felicity in slight awe.

"It's um… a hobby." She concluded shortly. "How about... I'll help you find your parent's. I've got some money and we can use your ID. But, the deal is you have to help me find Jonah."

"You trust me that much?" William breathed.

Felicity looked to her feet, "I can't go back there." 

"Then, it's a deal. Plus, after what just happened, I'd feel better sticking with you." William admitted.

Felicity took the statement the wrong way, "I don't need looking after. I can look after myself just fine." She said firmly, roughly wiping a tear off her chin.

"I noticed." William gulped, reeling back a little. "Sorry. I meant… I know."

"You know, that's a hell of a case of foot and mouth you've got there." Felicity noted aloud.

William sighed inwardly, maybe it would be better to just explain himself, "I know, I'm sorry. Honestly, I just want to find the easiest, safest way to get through tonight."

"Well then," Felicity nodded, "I guess we should know at least a couple of basic things about each other?"

William tilted his head expectantly.

"So, you already know I'm eighteen. I'm into computing. My parents live in West Chester." She reeled off, giving him the vaguest details. 

"Yeah. I've heard it's nice there, West Chester." William acknowledged.

"And you?"

They began to walk up the steps to the city.

"It's my eighteenth birthday today actually. I guess I'm more science oriented? That's what I want to do. Be a Doctor someday. And uh... I've lived all over, but here is where I lived first. DC is my city. Then when I was given up I moved around a lot. Mostly California, then I was sent to New Jersey to the Orphanage. But this…" William gestured to the city, breathing in the air deeply, "This is where I'm meant to be. Where my mother is, where she was born, maybe my father too. This is home."

"Well then," Felicity exhaled, "Welcome home, William Scully."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it would be good for William to have a partner on his journey. She was going to be called Corey but I promised a friend I'd name a character after them. She's not just a wall for him to bounce conversation off; she has her own story too. Otherwise she'd be boring. This story's gonna heat up. I intend for William to meet a parent or two next chapter.


	3. Arlington, DC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reunion ahead, a moment I know you've been waiting for!
> 
> Since it's Gillian Anderson's birthday today it makes sense to dedicate this to her especially.

William huffed and turned over, still reluctant to wake, burying his face in the scratchy pillow. Something smelled great. Sweet... like fresh waffles? No wait… pancakes? He lifted his head off the pillow just barely, and spotted in the dim light a napkin on the cheap wooden nightstand. Neatly piled on top of it were two perfect looking chocolate chip pancakes. Placed beside them was a cup of steaming liquid. Smiling drowsily, he sat up; swinging his legs over the edge of the creaking bed. He quickly noticed there was no fork and so picked up the pancakes with his fingers. Licking the chocolate off them as he went. He quickly polished off his breakfast and sipped the cup of what he had now identified as coffee.

He looked over to the other bed by the window. Dust dancing in the beams of light that filtered through the blinds. There was still no sign of Felicity. She wasn't in the bathroom, though she'd clearly already been in there; the door to it was open and there was still condensation on the glass of the shower. Her bed was made. All her things were neatly packed in her backpack and tucked under the bed.

William had been surprised he'd slept so well. Sleeping in the same room as a stranger you'd met only that day was not usually a comforting thought. But she hadn't slit his throat while he slept, which was a good start. In fact, she'd left him a warm breakfast. No one had ever done that before. Almost too good to be true... but at the same time, William wondered about his reasons for feeling he should distrust her. Whether it had more to do with his past than it did Felicity. She'd mislead him when she'd mentioned her brother, but it's not like it was malicious. She'd just been scared, and hurting. He still didn't quite understand the story there, but it intrigued him. William understood. He knew how much keener the pain could seem when the people around you know it's there. The sympathy and guilt in their eyes made it even harder to bear.

Felicity had taken a huge risk, a much bigger risk than he had. He could easily overpower her that much was obvious. William could have been a complete creep, but she'd trusted him. That was a stupid move without a doubt, really stupid, he could have been a murderer, but it's not like either of them had had much of a choice. It was share a room or spend a night on the streets. It was stupid, yes, but William also kind of admired her bravery.

He hadn't been blind to the fact Felicity was a girl either. Which, honestly, just made things complicated more than anything else. They'd silently agreed that she'd change in the bathroom. He'd thought about girls before, but more as a concept, a distant reality. Sure, he'd interacted with… women, but they'd been carers, foster mothers and doctors. They'd been older, mother-like figures. Felicity was a friend, he supposed.

There had been one girl who'd been more than that, sort of, when he was ten. He'd been living with the Stacy's and their neighbors had a daughter who was in his class at school. Cassie Seldon was her name. They were at a barbecue one day, playing in the undergrowth behind the Stacy's house. That was his first kiss. His only kiss actually. He didn't really remember it all that well, it had been nice, he guessed, not a bad first. He'd spent the rest of the day pursing his lips, convinced he could feel Cassie's on them. Then everything went wrong, he had watched her bedroom window as social services took him away. He could still remember the details, complete with red polka dot curtains and a rag doll sat on the windowsill. He hadn't been in love with her or anything, he'd been ten. He wasn't even sure anymore if he'd even liked the girl that much, but it had made him feel normal. It made him feel like just maybe, he had to potential to be loved… someday. To have a family of his own.

William sighed, rubbing away sleep from his eyes. He could still hear Cassie's giggle, the one she'd made as he pushed her in the pool that day. He could still recall the smell of the burgers cooking, and his foster father, Rob Stacy, laughing heartily as he talked with his friends around the barbecue. His foster mother, Lillian, fussing over the little ones, applying a Band-Aid to the knee of one little boy who'd fell out a tree. All of it had been so normal, it was everything that you saw in movies depicting happy families. He'd been so happy that day. Then that night… It'd been the night he'd blown it again. Quite literally.

William lifted himself off the mattress, chucking the balled up, chocolate stained napkin in the waste bin. He tugged his backpack out from under his bed and unzipped it. He drew out a clean pair of boxer shorts and a change of clothes, before pulling his pyjama top over his head to reveal bare skin.

The door creaked and slammed as Felicity entered. She froze for a short second, and then threw a hand over her eyes, "Shit! Sorry William!"

William forced out a laugh, feeling a little insecure. "No worries. Not much to see anyway." He bit his lip. Why on earth did he say that? William quickly slotted his arms through a maroon shirt and buttoned it up.

"When did you wake up?" Her cheeks were a little flushed, whether from embarrassment or some other reason, matching the light pink of her shirt. She sat on a rickety chair in the corner and began to remove strong black boots from her feet, then seemingly decided to keep them on. She straightened the bottoms of her trousers where they were crinkled instead.

"Breakfast was still hot, if that's what you're wondering." William grinned down at her where she was sat. "It was great, thank you." He tilted his head. "Where did you get it?"

"Place across the street." Felicity was smiling contentedly, but not at him. Her shoulders seemed relaxed, more so than before. There was a certain easiness about her mood this morning, and it made William a little curious.

William nodded, before stuttering, "So… Where'd you go after?"

Felicity looked up at him slowly, the gold flecks in her dark eyes glinting in the morning sun, as she regarded him a second, she said, "Do you really need to know?" Her hair was pulled into a plait, highlighting the different tones in her hair. He almost didn't hear her.

William blew out his cheeks, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, "Uh, you don't have to tell me. I just wondered. If you don't want to, you don't." She continued to stare softly, "That's okay. I just… if you did. I could… I said I would help. So, you know, you can. You may not! I don't really care." He squeezed his eyes shut. That went well.

"You don't care?" Felicity's eyes narrowed questioningly.

William really wasn't so good with the whole human interaction thing. He realised that today this was going to get shown off in all its glory. He choked a little, "Oh! That's not what I. I care. Because, you know, we're together. Well uh not together. That's not how... I know. But we are friends. No! Wait, partners! …uh allies? So, if you need anything, I care, because you and I are helping …each other. Right?" He sucked in a strained breath, his back warm, his breathing quickened.

"William! It's okay, I'm just pulling your leg. Sorry..." Felicity, standing now, was looking at him with wide eyes.

"God," William gasped. He collapsed onto his bed, the mattress springs squeaking in protest.

"I'm sorry," Felicity said, and she did look genuinely apologetic. Her arms were folded awkwardly, and lips were set in a tight pink line.

William rested his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands, gripping his hair with his fingers.

Felicity sat down next to him on the bed, placing a hand on his knee, "I was at the bank by the way. Emptying my savings account, so all my money's in cash now, and oh God please don't take that as an invitation to rob me."

William relaxed a little, sending her a smirk, "I have no intention of hurting you, Felicity."

"Good. That's always good." She had her gaze fixed on the ground.

"Actually, Felicity, I have to ask. It's killing me. I mean, I could be a murderer or something. Why do you want my help? Either you're desperate or you actually trust me, and I was wondering which one it was exactly?"

"Kind of both, I think. You have one of those faces though."

William snorted, "That makes people desperate?" He knew what she meant really, but he needed to laugh, even if it was at one of his own terrible jokes.

"Very funny." She elbowed him good-naturedly, although she seemed a little distant. "Come on, we've got stuff to do." Felicity swung her bag over her shoulder, and waited by the door expectantly.

"Uh…" William wasn't sure how to word it; he went with short and simple, "I'm wearing pyjama pants."

Felicity's eyes wandered downward. She turned her head away, "Ah yes…, I'm going to wait outside." She opened the door and left.

William walked into the bathroom; glancing in the mirror he decided a shower might be a good idea. He was out in five minutes, drying his hair roughly with a hand towel. He threw on his maroon shirt and dark trousers. Spotting the file laid on chest of draws to his right. He swore it was in a slightly different position to yesterday.

He was drawn toward the papers. Going straight to the back of the file this time, he pulled out a photo. It had the date 06.14.11 and 'Riverton PD' stamped on the back in red. William drew in a shaky breath, chin trembling, he flipped the photo over. He could see the house burning, hearing himself screaming, choking, the world had all seemed so distant, like for a while the world wasn't real, and smoke and flames and death was all there was. The fumes rose into the dark night, the bright hungry flames reaching high, swallowing his home. Rob Stacy screaming and yelling for them to save his wife, then the man went silent, seeing her, kneeling by her body, he'd looked up a William. The way Mr Stacy had looked at him, scared and disgusted, as if William were a monster, a freak. William squeezed his eyes shut, tears dripping off his chin; he scrunched the photo up in his palm.

Felicity knocked on the door, "Hurry up Slowcoach!"

"Be there in a sec." William called, pressing on his eyeballs through his lids with his thumb and index finger, his eyelids scrunched together. Needing to feel the pressure, willing the tears to cease with all his might.

Opening his bloodshot eyes he looked down at the papers once more, he saw his name, written in cursive on cream paper. He grazed his fingers over the envelope and gripped it gently, feeling the thinness of the paper under the pad of his thumb. They'd kept this from him. William turned the envelope over and dug his finger under the seal, drawing out the letter within. He bit his lip, sitting down on the bed.

_"My William._

_One day, you'll ask me to speak of a truth - of the miracle of your birth. To explain what is unexplained. And if I falter or fail on this day, know there is an answer, my child, a sacred imperishable truth, but one you may never hope to find alone. Chance meeting your perfect other, your perfect opposite - your protector and endangerer. Chance embarking with this other on the greatest of journeys - a search for truths fugitive and imponderable. If one day this chance may befall you, my son, do not fail or falter to seize it. The truths are out there. And if one day you should behold a miracle, as I have in you, you will learn the truth is not found in science, or on some unseen plane, but by looking into your own heart. And in that moment you will be blessed - and stricken. For the truest truths are what hold us together, or keep us painfully, desperately apart._

_With all my love, your mother."_

William didn't think he'd ever read such wonderful words. Eloquent and beautiful, everything he'd ever hoped. His mother had called him a miracle, a gift from God; unexplainable and wonderful, people don't just give up miracles light-heartedly. The way his mother wrote. Her words heavy with experience, devotion and a sincerity. What extraordinary things had Dana Scully seen? William had never been sure if he'd ever been loved; now he thought maybe, maybe that warmth he remembered from so long ago had come from her. He began to hope if just maybe the 'perfect other' she spoke of was his father, that he'd not been a mistake like so many other adoptees, formed purely in a moment of infatuation. Perhaps, he'd been created by those two perfect opposites. Perhaps he was something more than he'd thought before.

The anxiety over whether his parents would want to see him was gone. "The truth…" He needed it more than anything now. A journey… he was kind of already on one. William had a few years before he needed to start thinking about the whole partner, perfect other, part of it all. He could do this on his own for now.

"Ok, how about if you get your ass out here now I'll buy you lunch as well." Felicity called, bringing him back to a reality that already seemed a little brighter.

He beamed involuntarily. Then again maybe he didn't have to do it alone after all.

"Okay," William chuckled, pulling on his sneakers. He stuffed his file into his backpack, and hooked the straps over his shoulders. Giving the room a sweeping glance to check they hadn't left anything before striding out the door.

They were walking down yet another identical block when Felicity asked him the big question, "So what's your story?" His ears strained to hear her over the buzz of the city.

He went with his usual response, "Oh, it's borin-"

"William, come on! I look in your eyes and I know that's a lie. If I'm going to help you out, I don't want to be wandering around blind." Felicity shrugged. "And if you don't want me here then just say, I promise you won't hurt my feelings."

"No!" William exclaimed, "I want you around. I don't ever want you feel like I'd rather you weren't helping me. I've never been great at this. Talking... being with people. I mean, my best friend, Micah, is a great guy, but he's done two stints in Juvie and set fire to sophomore last month; I'm obviously not a golden influence. Though that sophomore really deserved it, and mostly it was an accident. I don't where I'm going with this…" William kicked at the asphalt as he walked.

"I think I do. You like having someone around, you just don't want to have to spend every second glued to their side, and you're afraid you're a bad influence so you push people away."

William paused, shooting her a look, then nodded.

"William, have you ever stopped to think maybe you're not a bad influence at all, maybe you're just drawn to damaged and unstable people?" Felicity said evenly.

He thought back. Micah, of course he was damaged, all those rejections had given him a pretty dull view of life, especially when that view was from a hospital bed, who can blame him. Noah, of course, was wonderful, but the kid barely slept, and had nightmares whenever he did. Noah was by definition unstable. William's best friend from Elementary school, Sid, had been obsessed with the macabre, always drawing skulls and bloody weapons. He'd been sent to a therapist after he killed his hamster. "Oh… right." William muttered.

Rob and Lillian Stacy were normal, and look what he did to them.

"I've spent my life in therapy, but I think you've got me better than a therapist ever has." He said. "But you're a balanced person… right?"

"You were telling me about you, remember?" Felicity raised a brow expectantly, elegantly avoiding the question.

"I told you the basics!"

"No, William." Felicity and he dodged a few pedestrians. "You told me where you'd lived."

"Okay, fine. I was put up for adoption when I was 10 months or so old. They died so that didn't last very long. I was put up for adoption again, but no such luck. I moved around a lot. Then when I was ten, my foster home was burnt down, and my foster mother died. Smoke inhalation, there was nothing they could do." William chewed his lip. "So, I was sent to St Paul's, where they could keep their beady eyes on me."

"They?" Felicity asked.

"The government. I don't know why, but I've been having government ordered medical screenings for as long as I can remember. The tell me I'm ill, but I don't know."

"And you have no idea why?"

"Well, I have an idea; I just don't know if they know what I know."

"Okay…" Felicity trailed off. "Are you going to tell me what you know?"

"No," William put a hand lightly on her shoulder apologetically, "Sorry, maybe another time." They walked in silence for a few seconds.

"But they're interested in your DNA?" Felicity looked up at him, her face hesitant and sheepish. Implying a hint of guilt.

"So you did read the file?" William accused Felicity, the corner of his mouth upturned.

Felicity held up her hands apologetically, "Yes. However, you did just leave a file with 'property of the US federal government' stamped across it in the middle of the motel room. I hack into their server for fun. How was I supposed to resist?"

"I just had an amazing idea!" William cried, grabbing her shoulders. "If I get you a computer can you get me in their server?"

Felicity thought deeply for a second, breathing out through her nose. "I brought my laptop." She grinned, "All I need is a strong Wi fi connection."

"You serious?"

"No, I'm kidding." She said her tone heavy with sarcasm. "Of course, we promised we'd help each other, right? Now let's go find your mom." Felicity gestured to her right.

William turned to see the hospital parking lot stretched out in front of him, just across the road. His stomach jumped into his throat.

Felicity jogged across the empty road and beckoned to him enthusiastically.

William steadied himself and began to make his way across the road, looking up at the hospital towering above him across the tarmac. He saw a woman in a window several floors up. She was distant, but he could see she had beautiful long red hair and a bitter sweet look about her face that strung a cord somewhere deep inside himself. He knew the chances of it being her were tiny, but that didn't stop him freezing, right where he was, two thirds of his way across the road. He heard Felicity scream his name, and then a hand came out of nowhere and yanked on his backpack, pulling him onto the curb, out of harm's way. A car squealed to a halt right where he had been stood.

"Lunatic!" The man who was still holding to him tight yelled passionately at the driver of the vehicle, "Watch where you're driving!"

William's breathing was laboured, he felt sick, and he was sweating.

"You okay kid?" His rescuer asked, letting go of the bag and staring intensely down at William. He had soft features and dark hair. His eyes were dark and young, a glint dancing in them, but the lines around them betrayed his true age. William guessed he must be around 50 or so in reality. There was something familiar about his face, in the curve of his jaw, his smile, his nose, and the shape of his brow. William's mouth opened and closed like a fish, he subconsciously reached tentatively to touch his own face, his gaze not moving from the man's face.

"Oh my god," Felicity collapsed onto her knees at his side, placing a hand on his cheek and searching his eyes, pushing his hair back with the other hand. "Oh my god! Are you okay? Did you hit your head?"

William smiled for her sake. "Felicity, I'm fine." He reassured her.

Felicity looked up at the man who'd saved William. "Thank you."

The man put a hand on William's shoulder, "Watch where you're walking next time kid."

"Sorry. Thanks. Not used to the busy roads." William thought back to the empty tracks of Denville.

"You two from out of town?" The guy concluded.

"Denville, New Jersey." William answered nodding, he stood up. Felicity let him used her as prop, his legs still a little shaky. "Felicity's from Philadelphia though."

"Well, Denville, you have to watch these streets, idiots come racing round these corners all the time. Some assholes round here think they're Wiley Coyote or something." The man explained half-heartedly, it was apparent he wanted to be elsewhere.

"Well thanks again." Felicity said sincerely, she observed William's pale face, asking him, "Are you sure you're okay, we can get you looked at real quick?"

William squeezed her arm, "I'm fine. I just need to distract myself from the fact I nearly died."

The man sighed, holding out his hand, "I have to get going. Stay safe, okay? No playing chicken, okay? I don't think you'd be very good at it." The corner of his mouth curled up.

William gripped his hand, it was firm and warm. He realised he didn't know the guy's name. "Thanks, uh…?"

"Fox Mulder."

William raised an eyebrow.

"I know, what was my mother thinking? See you. " The man said, walking away in the direction of the hospital, he turned one last time to yell, "Again, please don't go standing in any more roads. I won't always be there, Denville!"

"Well, he was nice." Felicity decided after a few seconds.

"Yeah, let's get going." William said, sliding his hand down her arm and into her grasp in order to lead her through the parking lot.

Upon entering they decided it made the most sense to head straight up to neurology. Quickly finding the elevator, William's heart was pounding as they were lifted up to the seventh floor. Stepping out to the clean white walls and strong disinfectant smell of the hospital floor, William had come so far, this was it.

They approached the desk. The receptionist looked up, disinterested and tired looking she drawled, "Can I help you?" As if she really wished they'd say no. She was young, with dark bags under her eyes and dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Felicity took over when William failed to speak, "We're looking for Doctor Scully?"

"She's on her break, and then she's leaving after lunch for personal leave. You'll have to make an appointment and come back in few weeks." The woman started reorganizing the pens in the pen pot.

"What? No way!" William burst out.

Felicity put a hand on his arm, her eyes concentrated on the receptionist, "This is very urgent and very personal. Can you go get her?"

"I've been instructed not to disturb Doctors when they're on break except when there's an emergency." The woman's gaze narrowed, silently telling the two teenagers to leave.

"This is an emergency!" William declared.

The receptionist gave him a glare.

"Please." William begged.

"I'm sorry, Sir, please leave." The woman said with her jaw tight.

Felicity pulled him aside as if they were making to leave, William protested, pulling away. Felicity tugged him close and lifted her lips up to his ear, "Run."

It took a second for William's body to respond, turning on his heel and skidding and sliding with a squeak down the pale corridor.

"Stop!" The receptionist bellowed after him.

William searched the plaques on the doors, finding the one engraved with the words 'Doctor's lounge' He burst through, much to the surprise of the five doctors inside, the door slamming closed behind him.

The room consisted of a number of arm chairs, a book shelf, a table and chairs, and a coffee machine.

"Hey?" A bewildered voice came from the far end of the room. William's eyes flickered all the way across the room, noting the doctor making coffee, and the other three sat in armchairs arranged in a circle around a coffee table, all of who looked shocked, to fall on the couple stood five yards away.

William's blue eyes widened, it was the man who'd saved him, standing opposite the doctor from the window. Seeing them standing side by side was all it took for William to know. Her colouring, his smile, her eyes, his jaw line, her posture, his ears, his nose too, it made it so glaringly obvious. Like fitting together puzzle pieces.

Dr Scully stared at him, recognition in her eyes as if she knew it too, as Mulder spoke again, "This is the kid I was telling you about, Scully. Denville, what are doing in here?"

"Actually," William cleared his throat, "My name's William Scully."

Everything seemed to go into slow motion as Dana Scully muttered, "Oh my god."

Mulder's smile halted; suddenly his whole body was very tense.

William was terrified of what was going to happen next, he was terrified of rejection. After everything, he wasn't sure he could handle it.

Then Dana Scully rushed toward William, tucking him into her arms, hot tears falling on his shoulder. Her hand held the back of his head like he was to her still the baby she had given up over seventeen years ago, "My son," she whispered, the room was so silent you could of heard a pin drop.

"Hey, Mom." William held her too, wrapping his arms around her back, his own tears beginning to fall.

Scully drew away slightly, looking over to the stationary Mulder, "Mulder."

Mulder jolted awake at those words. Scully moved out of William arms just in time for Mulder to walk into them, gripping William tightly to him. He muttered something, pulling away, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know ...but you were only…" Mulder positioned his hands to indicate the size of William as a small baby, "…you know, a newborn, when I had to leave."

William opened his mouth to question him.

Just then hospital security made their entrance. Two middle-age men dressed in grey uniforms, one of them holding tightly onto the arm of a very flushed and resentful Felicity.

"Hey, let her go!" William cried, eyeing the guard who was holding her intensely.

"Let her go, Gerry, this is a family matter." Dana Scully said evenly. 'Family' William blinked.

The guard released Felicity, who made her way to William's side.

"You okay, Felicity?" He said his voice unsteady.

"Spectacular." Felicity growled, holding her arm where it had been gripped. "You?"

William looked to his right, where his parents stood, his eyes shining. "I'm going to be fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad? Good? Wow it's way longer than my usual chapters. I seem to be writing super long chapters for this fic. I love it when you guys tell me where you want this to go or what you think is going to happen. Cause it sorta feels like I could leave it right here, but I'm not going to do that because that's mean and I like this story to much.
> 
> I have a big twist planned as well so… follow!
> 
> Sorry for anything noticeably un-american, I try very hard but I'm not from the US... so...


	4. Culpeper County, Virginia (part 1)

"Upstairs on the right." Dana Scully told him softly as he followed her and Mulder into their home. The door swung closed behind Felicity with a shallow creak. William looked back to her, meeting her eyes. Felicity gave him a small nod and a tiny encouraging twitch of the lips.

Meeting his parents keen and heavy gazes once more he made his way toward the staircase, tentatively at first, not sure what to expect from the room on the right. The wood protested slightly under his weight. He gripped the banister as he ascended, speeding up in anticipation as he reached the top. Nobody followed him. He saw the door. Placing a hand on the door handle, he paused for a split second before entering, a breath catching in his throat slightly.

The walls were painted pale blue, the bed covers on the double were dark blue, almost black, and dotted with flecks of white. Stars? And a wooden chest with painted planes on it sat in the corner next to a clothes closet under a large window with wooden blinds. The room was relatively bare, with none of the little souvenirs that came from being lived in; no dents in the surfaces, school trophies, books with bent spines, or framed photos. Wait. William's brow furrowed, spotting a picture pinned to a small cork board set above the bed, otherwise decorated with newspaper cuttings.

Unpinning it to gain a closer look, William sat down on the bed, shrugging off his backpack and observing the scene depicted in the photograph. A younger Dana Scully sat on a blue sofa, her hair shorter and a deeper red, she was looking proudly down at a chubby baby in a striped yellow t-shirt and blue dungarees. The child had fine pale red hair and piercing but playful blue eyes. William knew it was him. This was his room.

"William?"

William looked up sharply to regard Dana Scully standing pensive in his doorway with her arms crossed apprehensively, not quite in the room, but not quite out of it either. Her eyes were a wide and open blue, a sight that seemed familiar. Maybe he was remembering somehow? Or maybe it was because it was what he saw every time he looked in the mirror.

"I will be," He stated, "everything's just kind of…"

"Over-whelming." Dana finished.

"Yeah."

"I know."

There was a moment of heavy silence.

"So, you kept my room." William smiled at her, nervous but warm, inviting her to stay and talk… if she wanted.

"Actually, we moved here after you were… given up." Dana admitted, moving his bag gently so she could sit beside him on the bed.

William stayed silent. So this hadn't ever been his room. Why had the added a room for a child they'd given up for adoption? Maybe it had already been here when they moved in? Logically, it made no sense. Legally, they weren't his parents. Legally, his parents were dead. Legally, Dana and Fox couldn't ever have custody of him, but the government couldn't control him now, he was old enough to apply for emancipation from the state system, which shouldn't be too hard once he got things straightened out. He had savings, and support, and they didn't really have the resources to keep kids on after sixteen, let alone eighteen. The only reason Micah was still in the system was because he was medically unfit to get a job and he needed a full high school education if he wasn't going to end up homeless, which was a dire possibility despite his brains. Then again, with everything he was slowly learning, William wasn't sure it would be so easy anymore.

William had so many questions, but he just nodded instead, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"I still can't quite believe you're sitting here." Scully began when he didn't, "We always hoped you'd come find us some day. Mulder missed so much. He didn't get to say goodbye like I did." Dana said, cautiously but sincerely, looking a the ground thoughtfully.

"I thought about you both a lot," William admitted, wringing his hands slowly, "What kid wouldn't in my situation? I'm betting every other kid at the orphanage had the same thoughts. I mean, lots of us still had living parents; it's just called an orphanage out of tradition, so, of course, we all wondered what our parents were like."

"Orphanage?" Dana sounded shocked, "What orphanage?"

"The…" William searched her confused blue eyes for any understanding, and found nothing. "The… St Pauls Orphanage, in Denville, where I ended up… after my adoptive parents died." He realised, they hadn't known about any of this. Of course, they had no idea. Last they knew he'd been safely placed with the Van De Kamp's. Oh god... they'd thought he'd had a family.

"You've been in the government care system? How long?" Dana was still ridged from the news.

"Since I was one." William felt bad giving her more bad news, but she deserved the truth. More heavy silence followed.

Dana Scully placed hand on his cheek tenderly, and then drew back, as if she were terrified of making a wrong move. "I'm so sorry, William." Her expression was pained.

"No, it's-" William began.

"No, you deserved better than that. I wanted you to have better than that." Scully forced the words out.

"I do have a family, though, you know. Or, at least people I care about." William bit his lip to suppress a grin.

Dana Scully met his eyes again, coaxing him to continue, silently.

"This kid at the orphanage, Noah, he sort of imprinted on me, I guess. And there's my best friend, Micah." William let his grin rein free. "So, it wasn't nearly all bad. And, I guess I have you and… Fox now."

"You always had us, William, even if you didn't know it." Scully squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, then smiled knowingly, "Maybe don't call Mulder, Fox, though."

William rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully, "Then what do I call him?"

"You'll figure it out." Scully made as if to leave.

"Uh," William said, to stall her, "I…" He blew out his cheeks to try and ready himself, as he often did, "Why?" He almost choked on the question.

Scully's face fell, knowing exactly what he meant.

"You and he are still together after all this time. You had a good job. So did he. You were both old enough. I don't understand. I just came here because I need to understand. I need to know why you didn't want me anymore? Even if it hurts. I'm just looking for the truth. I need to find the truth. All of it." William's fists were clenched.

Scully's eyes flashed with painful recognition, seeing the pure Mulder in her son if only for a second, and guilt at those words. "Oh, no, William. You thought..." There was something desperate and truthful in his mother's eyes, " I wanted you so badly. You were my last chance. I didn't understand how you came to be, but you were a miracle, and a gift. I loved you more than anything. But not being able to protect to you, what sort of mother did that make me? I had to keep you safe. Please, believe me when I say I had to do it."

"I do." He said truthfully. "But you unknowingly handed me right into their arms." William took her hand from his shoulder and held it, his voice a little wobbly; hoping that with the gesture she would understand that he didn't blame her for it.

"How do…" She began.

"The truest truths are what hold us together, or keep us painfully, desperately apart." William quoted his mother's letter, "You told me that. What truth tore me away from you? …What's wrong with me? Why do they watch me?" He couldn't hold back the emotions that were bubbling now; he squared his jaw and blinked to rid himself of the tears welling in his eyes. He sucked in a sharp breath to aid his control.

"William there's nothing wrong with-" Dana shook her head, her eyes and tone heavy.

"After everything you can't just stand there and lie to me!" William began to yell, standing up, the ground beneath his feet started to tremor, the whole house shaking a little in the heated silence that trailed his words. His aggression died at the complicated wistful expression of pain and panic on Dana's face. "I'm sorry." William sat back down tentatively.

"I thought... it was over?" Her fingers brushed over the photo of her holding him as a baby where it lay on the bed spread. "What is it you can do?" Dana asked outright.

William searched her eyes, he trusted her. "I can move things, and sometimes I hear thoughts. I'm strong, and fast. I heal quickly. I never get ill. My memory is unbelievable. My grades had me accused of cheating several different times in the past three years."

"More human than human." Scully muttered her eyes both fixed on him and far away at the same time.

"Huh?"

She moistened her lips, "I was told you were something special, that you were something the world had never seen before. You had qualities that would make you desirable to governments and agencies all over the world. So when I thought you had been cleared of those qualities, I made the choice to have you sent away where no one could use you, or try to unlock those abilities again."

"But why? Why am I like this in the first place?" William jaw quivered. He'd never expected this. He'd always know there was something very wrong, but this? Whole governments?

"I've never been completely certain what cause the mutation. Outside interference of some kind." Scully frowned, her mind focusing. 

William realised something, "I have something to show you."

Dana watched as William tugged his bag into his lap and yanked the zipper open, pulling a brown, slightly dog-eared, official government file out ruthlessly.

He flipped open the file to the page he looked at back at the orphanage with Micah and Noah, placing his index finger on that last paragraph. "Read this."

_14% abnormal DNA detected. Origin: Known . Subordinate abnormal DNA suggests post-insemination inter-uterine osmosis of known mutated ova, as opposed to insemination pertaining to abnormal DNA (further tests required to confirm). Distant contact surveillance required, time period: Indefinite.' _Child valid: DNA acquired for FX90-7.__

Dana Scully sighed as she read, "It was me?"

"You're the 'abnormal DNA'?" William asked.

"No, it wasn't my DNA, or Mulder's. It says that any abnormality came from me, the mutated egg, and any exposure afterward. But any abnormal DNA must have been substituted in before I even got pregnant, or at least that seems to be what it's suggesting, and then helped along once I was..."

"Human DNA," William repeated. "As opposed to what other sort of DNA exactly?"

"…Alien." Dana stated, completely seriously.

He chuckled, expecting her to laugh too, then William saw the conviction in the strength of her jaw, "You're saying I'm 14% alien." She had to be joking.

"Yes, William." She said, her voice still unwavering.

"No way." This was all getting a bit too far-fetched. "I mean even if there is intelligent life out there somewhere, which is possible, they'd have to be advanced enough to create space travel that could withstand the journey to earth..." William huffed. "Aliens." Not possible.

"It would explain your abilities." Dana said, a challenge in the set line of her mouth.

"Yeah, but… you said I was 'more human than human'?" William defended.

"The DNA given to you wouldn't have changed your biology, just enhanced it. While your DNA is part alien, your anatomy is pure human. If you can, as you say, move objects with your mind, William, how far-fetched is the idea of Alien life really?" Dana argued.

William ran his fingers through his hair. This was insane, and yet he didn't think that Dana Scully was.

"What I'm more worried about at this point is why there is a whole file of reports here, and why they recommended you for surveillance." Scully said, flicking through the file, jogging William out of his daze.

"They've been taking blood tests since as long ago as I can remember, and my memory is impeccable. I've known something wasn't right since I was 6." William leant over his mother a little, trying to get a better view of the file.

Scully froze. Then suddenly she pushed herself off the mattress and strode out the door without a word. William heard her tearing down the stairs before he reacted. Deciding he should probably follow, he jumped off the bed and trotted a little more carefully down the stairs than Scully.

"Mulder!" He heard her call out insistently.

William followed her voice into the kitchen where Mulder was making coffee, and Felicity and her laptop had made themselves at home at the kitchen table. There was a small TV set on the counter chattering away.

"What's going on?" William charged after her, alarmed.

"Mulder, take a look at this." Scully slapped the file down on the table and pointed roughly to a section of small font.

Fox Mulder leant over the report and squinted, his eyes growing increasingly intense as he read further.

Felicity's eyes were flicking between everyone else, questioning and lost.

"Do you remember?" Scully asked quietly, her body facing Mulder head on as he continued to examine the paper in front of him.

"Yes, of course. Project FX90-7. That's the code name for Project Facsimile. Doctor Heage's experimental genetics program. Right?"

William was all ears at this point.

Scully's gaze deepened as Mulder's met it, implying something obscure.

"This is William's file, Mulder." Scully clarified.

Mulder's face fell quickly.

"They wouldn't have. Would they?" She said in a hushed and frightened tone.

"I wouldn't put it past them, Scully, and it's in his file, isn't it." Mulder said, his eye's searching hers desperately.

"The project was shut down before he was born, Mulder?" Scully refused to believe any of it.

"Only on paper, Scully. The government lies, we both know that well enough."

William took a step forward to get his parent's attention, "Hold on a sec, what's project Facsimile?"

The two ex-FBI agents shared a look.

"Project Facsimile was a cloning project set up in 1997 to investigate the possibility of complete human cloning. They'd had some success before but this was a different approach. It was 'supposedly' discontinued in 2000 when the department of health and human services branded it unethical." Dana Scully told him with a tense jaw.

"You don't think they actually shut it down?" William pulled out a chair and sat down, pulling the file his way so he could check it out.

"There's never any evidence of it. The funding was never re-channeled. The workforce was never reassigned. Officially everything and everyone to do with it just disappeared from record." Mulder moistened his lips. "I always wanted to look into it more, but a lot happened in the next couple of years and the guys, friends of ours, who got us the information, died in 2002." He averted his eyes, "I never followed up after all that."

"I can get you back into the FBI database if you want?" Felicity looked up from her screen hesitantly, seemingly a little intimidated.

"Really?" Mulder voiced hesitantly, regarding Felicity analytically.

She nodded, "Yeah, I've done it before." Felicity's eyes flickered dark, meeting William's briefly. He knew she was thinking about her brother. She cleared her throat, "I'm pretty awesome at forging documents too, if you're ever interested. I also make a mean apple pie." William had begun to notice Felicity tended to deflect seriousness like it was a disease.

Mulder nodded approvingly at her, smiling.

Scully looked between her son and the girl, "How do you two know each other?" She sat down in the chair next to William.

"We met on the train yesterday. She sat next to me on the route from Philly." William chewed his lip. Yesterday felt like a lifetime ago.

"You've know each other less than a day?" Mulder exclaimed in disbelief, bringing a pot of coffee and some mugs over to the table, and settling himself into the last remaining chair.

The kitchen wasn't huge, but light and functional. It was apparent neither Mulder nor Scully were big on baking. The table was small and pushed up against a window but there was still enough room for four.

"Yep."

"Uh huh." Felicity shrugged.

"I wouldn't have guessed it." Scully said.

"We've been through more than most strangers though." William accepted the cup of coffee Mulder offered him.

"Hey, William." Felicity muttered, all humor gone, staring past him in the direction of the TV.

"Yeah?"

"You might want to..." She nodded for him to look behind himself.

William turned to stare, seeing William Van De Kamp staring back at him. It was a photo from the beginning of the school year, when his hair was still long, but it was definitely him. The caption read 'Missing Child: Possible Amber Alert.'.

"Son of a…" William began.

"National news?" Scully breathed.

"Micah would have told them I left of my own accord, and I'm eighteen now. They know I wasn't abducted." William uttered as his face disappeared from the screen. "Why do they want to find me so badly?" He felt panicked. He'd opened a chest full of demons and he wasn't sure he'd be able to stuff them back in.

"They need you for something." Mulder stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Standing up to get closer to the TV, rubbing the stubble on his chin as he watched.

"The cloning project." William closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, he had to keep control. He was panicking. He hadn't wanted this. He'd just wanted a home and a family, and what did he get? Life as the subject of a nationwide manhunt that was likely to end with him being prodded and poked by doctors for the rest of his life. Oh God.

"They're trying to clone him! I thought they couldn't do that yet." Felicity exclaimed. She looked genuinely distressed and anxious.

"William?" Mulder muttered empathetically, peering at his son where he sat ridged and anxious on his seat.

Scully placed a reassuring hand on Williams's arm where it rested on the table top. His eyes were still squeezed shut in defiance.

"William, tell Mulder what you told me." Dana squeezed his arm.

William shook his head jerkily.

The room began to rattle and shake as William edged opened the flood gates the tiniest possible bit. The air was charged with energy and William closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel it as it coursed through his body and sparked off.

"William." Mulder warned, his voice rising with the noise.

The light bulbs blew, one by one by one. He let out a cry and the gas cooker lit itself to full blast. The room trembled with energy. Voices tumbled and stumbled through his addled subconscious; things people had said to him, things people hadn't. He lost touch. He was floating and falling and everywhere at once. He shut his eyes tight and pulled the floodgate back into place with a pained cry, scarring the table with his fingernails as he gripped it.

He had just enough time to note Mulder and Scully's identical troubled expressions before he hid his face in his hands.

He felt warm, slender fingers slide over his thick copper hair. "Shhh, it's okay, William. Everything's fine. You're okay. Nobody's hurt." Dana Scully stroked the back of his head tenderly as she murmured. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying it! If you are please remember to leave kudos, or even a comment if you can. I love hearing theories and suggestions so don't be shy!


	5. Culpeper County, Virginia (part 2)

"Any luck?" William said; the sound muffled by the large bite of the grilled cheese sandwich Mulder had handed him.

William could hardly believe the amount of care his father had put into that sandwich, sending William a slightly tentative but warm smile and cracking jokes the entire time. It had been pretty much the last edible thing in the house as far as William could make out, and he'd heard Mulder's stomach rumble, however much he'd denied it.  
It felt strange to have someone do something just for him, despite their own needs. William had felt stupid about it. It was just a sandwich, but he realised the only other time he'd had that was with Noah. When the little boy spent his small, long-saved amount of pocket money on a Christmas present for William. And that was family he guessed. Having people who put your needs before theirs no matter what. 

He dropped down on the couch to sit beside Felicity and her computer.

"Yeah…" Felicity finally said, concentrating. William waited for her to elaborate but she didn't.

"And?" He finished off the sandwich and licked off his fingers.

Her face switched from an expression of level focus to lean more toward frustration, "There's a file. Okay? It's connected to yours. I had to go looking for it since it's not really obvious to see, but it's in the coding. So I know it's there. You get it?"

"Yes, okay," William nodded, "So what's the problem?"

"It's crazily well protected. Majorly encrypted, completely bulletproof software, with no back door at all; I swear Robert Morris couldn't hack this stuff! And I'm a pretty seasoned cracker myself, so…"

William raised a brow, lost.

"Robert Morris? He's a…" She began, then shook her head, her hair was tied back in a braid to keep it out her eyes, "it doesn't matter right now, what matters is there's a file I can't hack and it's really irritating me." She caught William's eye, "And of course the fact there's a big government secret connected to you they're keeping from you…. which is wrong. Obviously."

William couldn't stop himself from smiling at her antics, he tried to concentrate on the task at hand once more, "So, there's no way you can get in?"

"I don't want to push too hard, William. They probably have an iron box on this thing! That means one wrong move and they can trap me and track me. I've run an root kit I developed myself, very specific to this sort of thing, but the government employs the best of the best. Right now I'm just cautiously munching round the edges of this thing, but… If they get a whiff of my scent on this…" She gulped, then muttered, "If I get arrested my dad'll kill me. Police commissioner with a daughter on the inside, that'll look great."

William's nose was scrunched up as he tried to make sense of all the hacker slang being thrown his way, "So, what your saying is you can't get in?"

"Well… there is one way I could." Felicity chewed her lip. "I have a plan, but you might not like it."

"You may as well spill it now." William shrugged.

"The main problem is the foreign server being detected. So… If I could just…."

"No!" William objected loudly, putting his hands up in protestation.

Felicity shushed him harshly, glancing around, but Mulder and Scully were upstairs, "Do you want to find out what's in this file or not?"

"You want me to walk into their legal headquarters?" William hissed under his breath, "I may as well go running stark naked through Times Square with 'federal fugitive' tattooed on my butt cheeks!"

"Well, as great as I'm sure that would be, obviously we're not just going to just march in there with our hands up! And really, at this point, we have no other choice." Felicity stared him down with huge brown eyes.

"Why do you even want to do this? Don't you want to try and find your brother?" William gazed incredulously at Felicity. It was a fair question.

"I will find Jonah. You have no idea how badly I want to, but as of yet I don't know where to start. Anyway, this sounds like fun." She grinned infectiously, and William's gaze softened. She'd been more unselfish than anyone he'd ever met. She was willing to help him do something that could get her stuck behind bars without as much as a thank you. He had a feeling it was more for the thrill than for him but still.

"You're going to have another poke around for news on him when we get in aren't you?" William concluded dryly.

"That's the plan, also, can I just say, I'm liking the 'when' in that sentence. Lovely to see some optimism."

"So… this plan of yours?" William inquired.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was getting dark early for a summer's night. William zipped and unzipped his backpack as he deliberated whether or not he should unpack. He hadn't really thought this whole plan through that well, despite his apparent intelligence, though sometimes he didn't really feel that intelligent. Then again when he'd come up with the idea to run off and find his parents he hadn't thought that it'd make him the subject of a nationwide manhunt. The TV news alert had rocked him harder than he'd let on. Suddenly he was something he'd never believed himself to be before; he was important, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

His parents hadn't really expressed vocally that they wanted him to stay, but giving him a room that practically had his name on it was a pretty big hint. However, at the moment, it all seemed so futile to William. The people who were looking for him, the government's people, were bound to figure out soon enough, if they hadn't already, where he'd run off to. They could come bursting through the front door at any point, and his parents had to know that. By this point he knew they'd been fugitives at one time too. He didn't want to put himself or them through having him taken away again.

William sat cross legged on his bed as he zipped up the pack once again, breathing out through his nose heavily.

Scully chose that moment to check in on him, "We're going to turn in now. Are you going to stay up for a bit?" She eyed his attire; he was still dressed in the shirt and trousers he'd worn all day, still slightly muddied from when Mulder had dragged him out the path of that car.

"Yeah. I guess my mind's just pretty busy right now." William ran a hand through his hair.

"I'd be worried if it wasn't." Scully stood in the doorway, arms crossed loosely with her long red hair tucked behind her ear on one side.

William really looked at her this time, he took away all the emotional stuff and just looked at the way her mouth curved, and the slight dark circles under her eyes from late, stress-filled nights at the hospital. He saw the way her eyes matched his exactly in colour and their almond-like shape. He noticed her complexion; the way the pale evenness of her skin mimicked his. The shape of her lips differed from his, they were smaller in width, and a far deeper colour, but he still smiled like her. With just as much laughter in the eyes. His nose was reminiscent of his father's in a way, but it bore the exact same strength that his mother's did. Who was no doubt thinking the exact same thoughts. His whole life he'd looked forward to this.

"What?" William almost whispered.

Scully blinked, adverting her shining eyes to look at the ceiling, "You just look like your dad that's all." She sniffed discreetly.

She walked over to him and placed a delicate hand gently atop his red waves, "Night, William." He relaxed under her touch. The hand slipped down to stoke his cheek, "Sweet dreams." William looked up to meet his mother's gaze and held it warmly. When her hand fell away his cheek felt cold.

Scully moved away toward the open door, her hands tightly clasped.

"Night, Mom." William said softly as she reached the door, liking the feel of the word as it rolled off the tip of his tongue. Scully seemed to waver there for a second, like a leaf fluttering in the wind, unsure of it's direction, before moving out the door and round the corner. Though he only saw her face in profile for a split second, he could see her lips turned up in a suppressed smile, her expression slightly overwhelmed, but happy. Very happy.

William faffed around for a while longer, pacing around the room anxiously, until he finally elected to take a shower. Rolling onto the sidewalk of a busy city road had made him a bit grimy, and he didn't know when he'd get another chance. He only gave his hair a quick towel dry afterward, throwing on a fresh shirt and pulling the slightly dusty but otherwise okay trousers back over his legs. He zipped up the bag one last time. Quietly making his way downstairs, trying not to make the stairs creak too much in case either Scully or Mulder were still awake.

When he got downstairs he found Felicity sat on the couch, already washed, dressed and packed waiting for him, "Wondered when you'd show up. Didn't know if you would."

"I have to do this." William said with flat determination. "Felicity I have a… question. Or maybe more of a confession." He sat down next to her.

"Hm?" She tilted her head and peered at him.

"I didn't really think all of this through too well. But, now I'm here, and don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful that they want me, it's just, there's just this burning problem. I like them, in a strange way I think I might even love them already, maybe I never stopped, but there's a small part of me that hates them a little bit too. Is that really terrible, do you think?" William closed his eyes so they couldn't betray him and turned his face away. He felt a hand slip inside his where it lay in his lap.

"Welcome to what it feels like to have parents." Felicity quipped quietly.

William let out a short, genuine, choke of a laugh, and then pursed his lips cautiously. "It's just, look at this place." He gestured around himself with the hand Felicity wasn't holding. "Look outside. It's beautiful, and secluded, and… and… they were here, happy, and I was there. I was there… jumping from home to home, and then stuck in an orphanage full of damaged, slightly insane adolescent boys. It's hard to forgive that."

"But, they thought you had a fam-"

William interjected, "I know that, Felicity. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." He wiped at his eyes, embarrassed. "Lord, I swear I've cried more in the last 48 hours than most people do in a lifetime."

They languished in silence a minute.

"You have cold feet about leaving?" Felicity bit her lip, staring at her feet.

"Nope. They're nice and snug. You?" William whispered back.

"Toasty, and raring to go." She answered under her breath. "Are we moving out now?"

"One last thing." William's eyes flickered with guilt. Letting her hand drop he picked a pen and ripped a piece of paper off yesterday's New York Times, both of which were on the coffee table. William chewed his lip thoughtfully before scribbling a simple 'I'm sorry' onto the newspaper scrap. Felicity gave his shoulder a quick squeeze of encouragement.

Tiptoeing up the stairs, he took in a deep breath, and then pushed open the door to their bedroom slowly to discover his parents curled up fast asleep, even Mulder, who was snoring softly. William smiled sadly at the sight though it warmed him from the inside out to see them like that. His father was on his front, his legs lain out at a weird angle with one foot peeking out at the end of the bed, his arm curled lazily around Scully. William's mother was on her side, her face nuzzling into Mulder's chest. One leg draped across his.

William smiled sadly, and padded over the a photo frame containing a picture of younger versions of the two of them that sat on Mulder's nightstand. He tucked the apology neatly inside where it would be easily seen. He reached out and brushed his fingers affectionately across Mulder's forehead, pushing back a few strands of hair.

"Night, Dad." He murmured.

He leant over his father and placed a bittersweet kiss on his mother's brow, "Sweet dreams, Mom."

It took all of William's will power to walk out their front door. The click of the latch confirming he couldn't back out now.

"Can you even drive, Felicity?" William asked her accusedly as they climbed into Scully's blue ford.

Felicity feigned hurt as she answered with joking crass in attempt to cheer him up, "Of course, and I can also fly small planes, and I know the theory to flying most helicopters, actually, William. My grandpa's an aircraft engineer; he owns a small airfield not far from a reservoir just outside Queens. I spent some summers there." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh Felicity, is there anything you can't do?" William said, with mock admiration.

"I'm not so great at drawing... in fact I'm terrible." Felicity offered, well aware the question had been rhetorical.

They slammed the doors and Felicity stuck the key in the ignition. Tossing her bag over her shoulder into the back seat.

"Can your feet reach the pedals, Ankle Biter?" William snarked.

Her eyes narrowed pointedly at him as she turned the key, bringing the vehicle to life, and stepping on it. "I'm not that short, Angel Face."

"Angel Face?" William pulled a disgusted expression, "Really?"

"Your hair does all glowey in the sun. Would you prefer 'pretty boy'?"

"Thanks and no." William said, his nose still scrunched up distastefully. "And by the way, 'Glowey' isn't a word."

"Don't call me Ankle Biter and I won't call you Angel Face." Felicity put her foot down on the pedal and beginning to turn the wheel.

"That's a deal."

William turned his head to watch the house grow smaller and smaller in the wing mirror, "They're going to kill me for running off when I get home, aren't they?" He sighed.

"That's what parents are for, and you haven't got anything on me, William. I didn't even leave a note." Felicity tried to joke but her smile faltered a little.

"Let's just find a way to get this all over with." William breathed, changing the subject, settling back in his seat and staring at the dirt road ahead. He sighed heavily, deciding to mess with Felicity a little further. He propped up his elbow on the top of his seat and leant toward her a bit. Smirking he asked, " Can I call your Short Stack instead?"

"It's better than Ankle Biter, but no. No nicknames, okay?" Felicity kept a cool but amused face as she watched the road.

"I think it suits you!" William grinned, his eyes travelling from Felicity's face to observe the maple syrup coloured tendrils tucked behind her ear and braided down her back.

"And why, especially?" She cracked a small smile.

"Well, the obvious, and because you're hair's kind of.. you know, golden brown." William bit his lip, "Like maple syrup." He blew out his flushed cheeks and turned to face the road slightly roboticaly, hoping the dim light would disguise his embarrassment.

Felicity shot him a look he couldn't quite pin down, but it seemed to be a mix of appreciation and confusion. "Really?"

William nodded awkwardly.

"Huh," Felicity moistened her lips with a glint in her eyes. She gave her full attention to concentrating on the winding road.

William glanced in the wing mirror to draw attention away from the building atmosphere. He couldn't see the house anymore. The darkness had swallowed it. The mood had changed by the time he faced ahead again. The road seemed even more gloomy now. The trees casting eerie shadows that slipped over the car and William's upturned face as they drove under the branches. The car lights showed the road ahead only for a dozen or so meters, and then there was complete unyielding black. Reminding William, almost poetically, that he couldn't guess what lay ahead for him now. And not for the first time in his life, William, honestly, just wanted his parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you guys weren't expecting him to run off as quick as that. Don't worry Mulder and Scully will reappear very soon!
> 
> The Absolution Of William Scully will return... probably within the week because I'm addicted to writing this story.


	6. Downtown Washington, D.C

Felicity was lazily humming and mumbling 'Hotel California' under her breath as she observed the dimly lit and barely populated road ahead. "Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim…" She sang softly into the silence, over the even hum of the engine, perhaps in a feeble attempt to stay awake.

William watched the light from the highway lamps flash through the darkness across the wet asphalt beneath the rolling car wheels, his eyelids half closed, his nose practically squished against the cold glass, his hot breath quickly forming condensation that disappeared just as quickly. He saw a few glaring dots in the distance, like the steady stare of a demon; perhaps street lamps? …The windows of people's homes?

William clenched his jaw, turning his head away. 'Home' seemed like a pretty amazing concept right now. Thing is, he felt almost as though he didn't deserve one. He'd run off after a few hours with his parents leaving them with nothing more than an 'I'm sorry'. William knew he should of given them more of an explanation, they wouldn't understand his reasons now. They might think he regretted finding them. He just wanted to keep them alive. William slammed his own head against the glass in some twisted form of retribution.

Felicity stopped humming abruptly, heavy but warm doe eyes watching him worriedly out the corner of her eye. Her small hands clutched the wheel. She knew better than to ask how he was. The answer was obvious, and he'd brush it off anyway.

He thought about all the terrible things he'd done in his life; when he'd lost control. Why he'd been through so many homes in so many years. He could hear the screaming sometimes, especially in his nightmares. He knew what he'd done, that it was his fault. Three innocent people were dead. Who's to say next time it wouldn't be his mother or father, Dana Scully or Fox Mulder. He wouldn't allow that to happen. He needed to find the answers to his riddle before he started to build a real family.

The Van De Kamp's had loved him, he knew that much, and it had meant their demise. He couldn't let that happen to Dana and Fox. He was older now, he'd learnt to keep the power firmly locked away, it seemed to have gotten easier to do, but the fear was ever-present and cracks in his control over it appeared periodically. He killed people who cared. That was his curse. One nightmare burnt down a house and killed a kind, loving woman, who'd sworn to care for him, and it'd been his fault. And of course, he'd had the nerve to survive both times. The first night, almost 14 years ago, was still etched onto his mind. The image of a fiery-haired baby boy playing happily in the flames of his crumbling home; William recalled the event, squeezing his eyes tightly shut to dispel the image. The flickering orange wall encasing him, he could almost, even now, feel the intense heat on his skin. But he wasn't afraid, he'd never been afraid. That was the most disturbing part. Now he was though. He was very, very afraid.

William could deal with something happening to himself. He feared death, but he was afraid something terrible would happen to someone he cared about far more. He deserved death more than any one of them.

He looked back over his shoulder to where Felicity's focus was solely aimed ahead, her mouth open slightly in thought or concentration. He had dragged her into this, and she had no idea how dangerous he was for her. She's taken the news of his… 'Condition' in her stride, but it didn't take a genius to tell it had shaken her. William owed her immeasurably, and he had no idea if she even knew that.

Felicity noticed he was staring and flashed him a quick genuinely warm and reassuring smile before her gaze returned to the road, the corner of his mouth twitching in automatic response.

Relaxing a bit more and leaning back in the driver's seat, she began to continue half singing, half muttering the song, "This could be heaven. This could be hell…"

'I'll say,' William thought. A sign appeared in the near distance, coinciding with the gradual formation of more and more buildings and structures. More and more city lights were appearing ahead. The sign read, in obvious patriotic colours 'Welcome to Washington DC'. The car rumbled across the cobbled stones of Arlington bridge, William turned to watch the Lincoln memorial to his right as they went steadily round the rotary.

"How far now?" He breathed.

"15 minutes, maybe less." Felicity chewed her lip in anticipation and to suppress the need to yawn.

The stayed in the silence that follow until they pulled up outside the FBI Hoover building. Felicity turned off the ignition as they stared with bated breath.

"Here we are then." Felicity sighed, "The John Edgar Hoover building."

"So, Felicity, this plan of yours. Care to run it by me again?" William asked, his eyes taking in the site of a couple of still lit windows. It didn't surprise him too much that some Federal Agents might stay up to the early hours of the morning working.

Felicity reached behind her seat, undoing her belt, and pulled out a roll of paper secured with a rubber band. She pried off the band and unrolled the paper, displaying a slightly blurry printed copy of some blueprints.

"Okay," Felicity's brow was furrowed in concentration, "See this here?" She pointed to a symbol of some kind that stood for something on one of the outside walls.

William nodded.

"That's the main entrance for the FBI Parking garage, right underneath the building. It's for heads of departments and the suchlike." She informed him.

"That's how we're getting in?"

"It's our best shot yes. The real life alternative to the back door of a computer program, they've got CCTV down there but no guards, and no detectors. From there Agents go up the elevator to the main entrance, where they're checked. They've re-vamped security after an incident a few years ago.

"How do we miss the security?" William took a closer look at the blueprints.

"Glad you asked." Felicity smiled, "There's actually a series of… what's the least lame way of putting this? …escape routes? Yes, okay, lets go with escape routes. They were built into the structure of the building in case of a hostage situation or the suchlike. Some of them have been blocked up, but a few have just been covered up and forgotten about, as far as I can tell. Pretty stupid move for an 'intelligence' organisation. Budget cuts I guess."

"So we can just sneak in through? Really?" William's eyes widened in shock.

"Theoretically, yeah. There's maybe a… 86% chance this'll work." Felicity flinched at the possibility of getting caught. "Luckily, the office we want is on the same level as the garage."

"Felicity Parker, my life in your hands." William didn't even know if he was joking anymore, but he smiled anyway.

Felicity's eyes flickered as she let out a small slightly nervous huff.

"Better get some sleep quickly." She said shortly, putting the seat back as far as it would go, and faced away from him as she lay back. She hunched other bringing her arms in close to warm herself. The summer days in DC might be warm enough, but tonight was cool.

William reached onto the back seat to grab the blanket he'd swiped when leaving the orphanage. Unraveling it, he placed it over her tense form.

She spoke up, like he knew she would, as he adjusted his seat, lying back. Felicity wriggled onto her right side to face him, "No, William," She grasped the edge of the blanket and held it out to him, pulling it off herself, "It's yours, you use it."

"I'm not cold, Felicity," He lied, "It's fine." William pushed her hand back and adjusted the blanket over her again, not meeting her eyes as he did so.

"Really?"

William laughed as though she was being absurd, "Yes! Go to sleep already." He snuggled back in his own chair, closing his eyes.

"Thanks, William," He heard her murmured, before a slight rustling met his ears as she settled down.

After a couple of minutes William heard her breathing soften and become more rhythmic. He opened his eyes; to see her fast asleep, with her hair strewn across her face, and her mouth open slightly. He envied her a little.

William gingerly pushed the rogue strands of hair back from her face where they'd fallen in her mouth. "Least I can do." He sighed, turning over and closing his eyes.

In the end it was a knock on the car window that woke them up the next morning. A middle-aged balding buy in a uniform rapping on Felicity's window. "Hey! You kids!" The deep voice was muffled by the glass, but it still roused William further.

He looked bleary-eyed at the man who slowly came into focus. William registered the weight of something his lap. It seemed Felicity had somehow re-positioned herself in the night so she was propped against her door with her feet on top of him. He pushed them off and gave his full attention to the yelling man.

"Yes?" William ran a hand through his hair. Trying to make himself look presentable.

"You kids can't sleep here. Park, or leave." The guy William now identified as a traffic cop yelled at them.

"Okay, sorry, Officer. It won't happen again." William shot him an reluctant apologetic smile, hoping he'd take it and leave. He went to wake Felicity, placing a hand to where her neck met her shoulder, he shook her gently. "Felicity." He hissed.

The police officer rolled his eyes and wander off.

Felicity groaned, putting her forearm over her eyes in a reluctance to awaken.

"Felicity, we got to get up now."

Soon both William and Felicity were wide awake and clambering out the car, slamming the doors behind them and locking up. They began to walk toward the entrance to the parking garage.

The two of them peaked round the side of the building to get a look it.

"Damn it! What now?" Felicity cursed, spotting a security guard at the entrance, he was checking the ID of an agent in an Audi.

"It's okay, I thought this might happen." William slipped his hand in hers, making her jump. For a second she was confused. Then Felicity noticed there was now something that felt like a roll of tiny straws in her palm. William pulled his hand away and Felicity opened hers and looked down.

"Are these… Firecrackers?" Felicity scrunched up her nose in a perplexed expression.

"Homemade. My best friend Micah makes them. He got suspended in 10th grade for selling them to other students." William admitted proudly.

Felicity smirked, "You want me to throw them at the guard or something? What do you want me to do with them?"

"God no! They sound like gun shots. Officers of the law are allowed to leave their post if they believe human lives are in jeopardy. We're going to use them as a distraction."

Felicity nodded slowly, turning to look down Pennsylvania Avenue. William gently took back the packet of firecrackers and followed Felicity's gaze. It was beginning to get busy. He took a breath and hurled the tiny packet of firecrackers back down the way they had just walked.

"William! I'm not an expert but I think you have to light them first." Felicity hissed, completely confounded.

"I don't. Keep walking." William said, shushing her. He tugged on the sleeve of her jacket. Her eyes were still wide. William pictured the little red packet lying on the pavement, and focused all his energy on that one spot. A loud crack rang out across the block. There were a couple of yells and screams from some pedestrians and a few cars swerved in terror. William silently prayed no one got hurt.

He noted the security guard's head lift suddenly, if he were a dog his ears would have pricked up. Another crack echoed as the guard began to sprint in the direction of the noise, a serious and driven look on his face as his hand rested on where his gun sat in it's holster on his hip.

Felicity grabbed William by the elbow and tugged him forward, reminding him why they were really there. As guard charged past them they sped up.

"How did you do that?" Felicity yelled as they ran toward the cross bar at the entrance.

"Ask me another time." William grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Hold on." His gaze was fixed on the CCTV camera that's eye was directed right where they were going to sneak in. It wouldn't be very sneaky now… unless. He narrowed his eyes slightly. It felt like electricity coursing through his veins. The CCTV camera blew, sparks flying.

"Okay," Felicity choked. Another firecracker went off in the next street. The shouting and yelling climbing as people figured out the cause.

"Come on." William clenched his jaw, placing a hand on her lower back to urge her forward. They ran the last bit, ducking swiftly under the yellow and black cross-bar.

They sprinted, tripping over their own feet as they made their way deeper into the underground garage. William stopped to catch his breath.

Felicity was bent over, gasping not just due to the running, but because she was in fits of laughter, "That was awesome!"

"I will not…" William sharply gestured finality with his hand, "be doing that ever, ever again!"

Felicity grabbed his shoulders and shook them a little, "I know who I'm taking next time I need to break into a government building. You were amazing." Her eyes were huge and glistening with the thrill of it all.

"I said never again." William shook his head at her.

"Okay, now for the hard bit." Felicity said turning away to glance around.

"The what!" William almost squeaked.

"Oh!" Felicity stalked off, ignoring his last remark. She jogged over to a set of stairs that no longer led anywhere. The base had a chain across it to ward people off. All that waited at the top was a balcony like structure as where it was obvious there had once been a door in the wall was now filled in sturdily with bricks and cement.

"Felicity… that doesn't go anywhere…?" William stated, briskly following her.

"No," She agreed, "But this does." She gestured to the area beneath the stairs which was enclosed in blotchy, spray-painted green metal case, as if to make some sort of storage space/cupboard under the stairs.

William knelt to take a closer look, running a thumb along the seam that appeared upon more vigorous inspection. He noted that what he had thought before was just dent or hole was actually a keyhole. "No way." He whispered.

"Budge over." Felicity ordered good-naturedly, and he obliged. She pulled a small wallet of some kind out of her jacket pocket and selected two 'L' shaped metal rods from inside, sticking them in the lock. Her eyes unblinking as she concentrated, twisting the rods skilfully. Her tongue sticking out between teeth in her focused state.

"You're kidding. Where did you learn to lock pick?" William exclaimed.

"Uncle Bob, he taught my cousins and Jonah too. Just in case something happened where we got locked in somewhere we would be able to pick the lock. My family's very protective." Felicity rambled as she worked, "I mean, I can use a gun, and my fists too if it comes to it."

"So, you could kick my ass?" William grinned, imagining the tiny girl in front of him taking him down. It wasn't as hard to imagine as he'd thought.

"If you didn't blow me up first." She nodded, the corners of her mouth curling upward.

William imagined a tiny, little girl with big brown eyes covered with goggles far too big for her, clinging tightly to a gun, with a face scrunched up in determination as the weapon kicked back and a shot rang out across the shooting range. The thought made so much sense.

"Was it nice? Growing up like that?" William said.

Felicity shrugged, "My grandma always complains I was raised too much 'like a boy', but I liked it, plus she's an old fart. Here we go!"

"Nice," William whistled as the hatch swung open, creaking and squealing in protest.

Felicity stuck her head in and looked to the right. She crawled in turning the way she had looked, disappearing from sight. William heard some thumping and then a large crack, then a few smaller cracks. It sounded like wood splintering.

"Follow me." Felicity's disembodied voice told him.

William clambered in, coughing and sneezing as he snorted in a cloud of dust. He closed the hatch carefully behind himself, picking up a piece of splintered wood, he lodged it in locking mechanism, so it would stay closed without having to be re-locked. The floor was even dustier than the air, which was burning his eyes and coating his tongue. "Don't suppose you brought the torch?"

Felicity noticed the look of disgust on his face, which was obvious even in the dank darkness of the tunnel, "Well at least it's probably not poisonous." She said, before turning around to shuffle along the floor on her knees.

"Probably!" William rasped, coughing again, "Please, God, at least let there not be rats."

The started shuffling along on their hands and knees.

"Could you move any slower?" William chided.

"William Scully's scared of tunnels, who knew."

"I'm not scared, but this place is tiny, it's uncomfortable." William told her defensively.

He could practically feel her rolling her eyes, "It's not that bad."

"Not all of us are hamster sized, Felicity!" William puffed.

Felicity ignored him, "William. I think I see light."

"Maybe we're dead." William muttered darkly.

"I think it's a grate." Felicity piped up cheerily.

William leaned heavily on one hand in order to peer around her, she was right, the thin lines of light filtering through did suggest there was a grate not too far ahead. "Great."

"That's what I said."

"No, I meant... never mind." William shook his head.

Felicity crawled quicker. William's knees were getting sore. She reached the grate in less than 20 seconds, and peered out through the slits.

"See anything?" William whispered.

"Not really, it's just an empty corridor, but I can see a door or two ahead." Felicity twisted her neck to get a good look around. "I can't hear anything either. We should be good to go." She pulled out her wallet once more, and took out what looked like a small pair of pliers, and she went to work.

William was just about beginning to get bored when Felicity shoved open the grate with a 'clank!', exposing a hole big enough for both of them to fit through, just about.

"We have to be quick." William told her as he picked himself up off the carpeted floor of the corridor, brushing the dust off his clothes and shaking out his hair as best he could.

He looked around at his surroundings. Taking in the fact there seemed to be only a few doors on this floor. It had to be the basement floor; they hadn't crawled upward, so they must still be underground. There was an elevator door down the opposite end of the corridor beside a set of stairs, and then next along a room labelled 'supplies cupboard', then another dubbed 'maintenance room'. What really took William's interest though, was the door that was already open. He almost drifted toward it as though he were drawn to it in some way.

William gripped the door frame as he entered, noting only one desk as the central bit of furniture. The walls were covered in newspaper cuttings, and photos and posters, stuck both to the walls and to two pin boards, the paint on the walls themselves was an identical grey to the worn carpet. There was also a huge print of the FBI logo propped up on a shelf on the opposite wall, next to it a poster of the moon landing. Six large filing cabinets were pressed up against the walls and one low wooden cupboard resided behind the desk. He wandered further in, goose bumps forming on his skin. His mouth opened and closed, he looked up slowly, mouth falling open again, already kind of knowing what he would find. The white-grey ceiling off the office above the desk was dotted with a couple of yellow HB pencils and pencil sized holes where others had obviously fallen out. William let out a breath, his vision getting a little blurry. It was the same bizarre acent he'd noticed when he'd looked into his father's office not more than a few hours ago.

"William?"

William made his way over to the old wooden desk and sat down in the comparatively new swivel chair, opening the top and then the bottom draw his hand fell on something cold and ridged. Pulling it out he observed it was a name plate, but not just any name plate. He ran his fingertips over the engraving, 'Fox Mulder'.

"William? Look." Felicity said, pointing behind him, "Is that?"

He looked to where she was pointing, swiveling the chair, and sure enough there it was. A tiny photo, placed as though seemingly insignificant. Both their hair cuts were shorter, and her hair was a deeper red, but it was them. His father's arm was around his mother, seemingly telling her something important. Their faces were young and unblemished. They wore FBI issue blue windbreakers over formal, business attire, but their expressions hadn't changed. His mother; calculating and attentive. His father; both intense and playful with the same solemn look in his eyes. It was strange to see them this way.

"This is the X-files office then I guess." William meant to speak normally, but it came out as a whisper.

"We have to get this done, William." Felicity told him. Reminding him this was no time for getting emotional.

"Yeah, I know." He tore his eyes away, suddenly realising he was still holding onto Mulder's name plate. He hesitated a second, before placing at the front of the desk. Whoever worked here now had to understand whose office this would always truly be, though, guessing from the décor, and the fact that those pencils were still stuck in the ceiling 15 years after Fox Mulder had run off, they already did.

Felicity had made herself comfortable in an alcove off to the side, where there sat a state of the art computer waiting. She plugged in, sticking a black USB in the USB drive, it flickered green.

"Do you know how long this will take?" He leant over her.

"Not too long. I know this program like the back of my hand by this point, it's cracking the device itself that'll take the time and that should be easy enough." Felicity's mouth fell open in concentration once more.

William picked a small key off the desk beside her, bringing it up to his eye line, he had an idea. He tried the key in section after section of each filing cabinet, and eventually the cabinet labelled 'Q-T' clicked. He drew open the draw, flicking through the files; he was already doing something illegal it's not like this could hurt. He sifted through them, enraptured by the stories that seemed like science fiction. Then he stumbled across a file named 'Scully, Dana'. William had to sit down as he read. The things that had supposedly happened to his mother: The records of abduction. She'd had cancer? William's eyes widened, he'd… he'd had a sister? There was a picture of a cute little girl with a solemn face and a blonde bob. They had the same eyes.

"William. You're going to want to see this." Felicity said with strained urgency. William rushed to her side.

"These… are the encrypted files connected to yours." The screen seemed to have a number of files up all at once. Each one showed information on a different person, recording their names, dates of birth, medical records, and current where about. William gauged from the dates of birth that all the records were on children born in the last 10 years.

"What are they?"

"William." Felicity uttered throatily, looking up at him with a scared sympathy. "These kids, they're you."

"What?" William stood up straight.

"Their medical records… their DNA, it's identical to yours. I don't quite... Do you think maybe Dr Scully was right? Maybe Dr Heage did perfect the cloning process." Felicity looked as though she was already convinced.

"No! No… what you're saying… there can't be loads of me running around. Why would they do that?" William began to panic and anger. "That's crazy."

"Why?" Felicity looked perplexed that he couldn't comprehend it, "Have you seen what you can do? In the wrong hands you could have become a very dangerous weapon. I don't doubt that's one of the reasons you were given up."

"Holy…," William drew his hands down his face.

"Anyway, these kids were all declared deceased before their first birthday." Felicity told him, the light of the computer reflected in her eyes. "Wait, no, there's one unaccounted for. Here he is."

William gathered himself together but couldn't bring himself to look back at the screen, he listened.

"Subject A2-09. Born on the 7th of May 2010 to Abbigail Adara Macy." William's head shot up, "Disappeared with surrogate mother on the 30th of July 2010 but was rediscovered by federal agents on the 6th of October 2014, aged four. Subject contained at government facility for further testing. Subject is currently stable.

"Name?" William croaked, though the pieces had already begun to fall into place.

"Legal name is... Noah Lucas Adara Macy." Felicity looked away, knowing if she looked William's way she'd be watching him crack. Break from the inside out.

William felt sick. No wonder he had felt such a connection to that little boy. The matching blue eyes and red hair, even their smile was the same. People had always said they looked like brothers. William crouched down, gripping his hair in frustration. He felt so stupid. These people they'd been playing him since he was a baby. He'd been poked and prodded and violated, and now it turns out they were the creators of a kid that meant more to him than maybe anything else in the world. He hated them, as much as he loved Noah, he hated that they were why he was here. Noah deserved so much more than that.

William heard Felicity slip the USB drive out the computer and turn it off. A warm hand then found its way tentatively to the top of his head, "I'm so sorry, William."

"Is he going to die? Like the others." He was still crouched down with his hands over his face, covering his bloodshot eyes.

"I don't think so, but I don't know." Felicity admitted morosely and sympathetically.

"I need to know what happened." William stated.

"I know."

"Hey?" A loud foreign voice interrupted, and William shot up stiffly.

A man in his 50's with a short tidy haircut, piercing blue eyes and sharp features, wearing a neat black suit, eyed the two teenagers analytically. The man surveyed the room, taking in the open filing cabinet, the opened file on Mulder's desk and the girl sat at the computer.

"What are you two doing in here?" The man asked calmly but threateningly. He stayed in the doorway but he focused in on William's face, his eyes narrowing. "Do I… know you?"

Then a younger woman appeared behind him, holding a coffee and as equally confused at the situation. She had dark hair cut at her shoulders and strong but attractive, conventional features.

William made a decision, leaning over to whisper in the frozen Felicity, "When I'm gone make a run for the hatch. See you on the other side, or if not… it was fun." He knew Felicity was going to argue.

"William, no!" She yelled.

He watched the faces of the two agents drop in shock as something akin to recognition flashed in their eyes. William took advantage of their momentarily stunned conditions. He made a bolt for the staircase, running out the door he knocked the female agents coffee to the ground. He was glad to hear two pairs of footsteps following him as he barreled up the stairs. It meant they'd left Felicity the chance to escape.

A large number of eyes turned to observe him as he burst through the double doors at the top of the stairs. A frightened eighteen year old boy covered head to toe in a light film of dust running through the FBI building at terrifying speeds, it probably didn't happen every day, so obviously it was going to turn a few heads. A few hundred heads apparently. It seemed that William had accidentally stumbled onto just about the busiest floor the FBI had.

It was if something had paralysed the entire vicinity for a split second, no one spoke, no one moved, as they all waited for him to do something.

The male agent from the office broke the spell, as he came crashing through the doors. William had to think quickly. He saw an open window to his left, through the middle of two lines of pencil pushing agents.

"William?" His mother's voice broke through his thoughts. And sure enough there they were, Scully and Mulder, stood ahead. The entire floor of people seemed to synchronise their head turn to look into the distressed face of Former Agent Dana Scully as she looked into the shame filled eyes of her son. Why were they here? How had they known?

William didn't even register that the agent who'd been chasing him had stopped to watch.

Mulder stepped forward, fists clenched, keeping a straight face but his eyes were brimming with concern, "William, come on. We're going to go home. Please."

William scrunched up his face in pain. They had no idea how badly he really wanted that, but he couldn't. He'd just be putting them in danger. He shook his head then looked them both in the eyes.

"I'm so sorry," He breathed the words lightly, but in the stunned silence it carried. He saw his mother's face contort further as he made a run for the window, it was wide open. There was no denying he could jump right out, it was the landing that was the worry, given he was now 3 floors up.

"William!" Scully screamed as he cleared the window ledge. Jumping from the building, he readied himself for the hit.

The asphalt cracked as he landed, cars swerved away from him. He choked out a breath, he wasn't dead, but he could feel the grilled cheese sandwich he'd had for dinner yesterday and his whole body was buzzing. He could hear the commotion as FBI agents gathered at the windows to have a look. He tucked himself into the side of the building so they wouldn't be able to see anything and ran.

William just hoped Felicity had got out alright. He had no way of knowing whether that female Agent was holding her. A hand came out of nowhere, yanked on his arms and pushed him against the wall of a nook round the back of the Hoover building. It was the female agent from the basement.

"Are you William Scully?" She challenged, repeating when he didn't answer, "Are you William Scully?"

"Uh… yes, yes!" William garbled.

She let go of him and took a step back. He was still afraid to move, he could see the gun at her hip and he eyed it cautiously.

She sighed, relaxing in a way that made him more comfortable. The Agent looked him up and down, "Look at you. I feel so old." When William frowned she responded, "I delivered you, in Georgia, in 2001."

William didn't know how to react to that. Did that mean… she'd been the first person in this world to actually meet him, if you didn't count his mother. What a strange thought that was. That this stranger, could be part of his life in such a big way.

"I'm Monica, by the way. Agent Monica Reyes." She held out her hand, in a kind of apology.

"William Scully." He took her hand and shook it.

She watched him closely, examining every move he made in great detail, "I always knew you'd look like Scully the most, but I can see Mulder in there too. It's the Ja-"

"Jaw? Yeah. I know." William nodded, fingering his jaw tentatively before brushing himself off a little more. He'd noticed it too.

"Monica." The now familiar strong New York accent rung out toward them as the other agent approached briskly. The jacket of his suit billowing slightly.

"William, this is John. You were born in his home town actually." Monica added the tidbit of information cheerfully.

"Agent John Doggett. Nice to meet you." Doggett stuck out his hand and William shook it firmly, their eyes meeting. "It's crazy, right? He looks just like her. The eyes are unnerving."

"William." His mother called from a dozen metres away, evenly charging toward him, closely followed by his dad. There was no escaping them now, even if he'd wanted to.

"Mom," William allowed her to gather him into her arms. Doggett and Reyes stepped back to given them space. "I'm sorry." He said, the sound muffled against her shoulder. Her hand stroked the hair on the back of his head.

"I know." Scully pressed her lips to his cheek, backing away. "As long as you're okay. You are okay?" His mother searched his eyes, not as a mother, but as a doctor.

"I'm find, seriously." He reassured her.

"Leave him, Scully, he says he's fine." Mulder softly made himself known, hooking his son with his arm and hugging him close, "Never do that to us again. Have you any idea the mess you could have made on the avenue."

William laughed, grasping the back of Mulder's jacket in appreciation of him trying to make light of the situation.

"Why'd you do it? We woke up and you were gone." Mulder grilled him as he pulled back.

"There are just a lot of answers I have to find still. I'm getting closer, but it's dangerous. I need to find the truth, but there are people, people who are far stronger than me guarding it." William's eyes fell to the ground, "I just don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"William, we were doing this sort of thing long before you were born." Mulder reminded him.

"Yeah? And how did that work out? The fact Felicity's involved is bad enough. I mean, I don't think I could get rid of her if I tried, anyway." William's head shot up. "Oh, Felicity!"

"Who's Felicity?" Doggett frowned.

"The girl I was with. Long blondish hair, really short, constant smirk?" William looked to Reyes, Scully hand on his arm, "Where is she?"

"I don't know. I followed John up the stairs, and when I went back she was gone. It was strange."

William sighed, "She'd got out okay then." The thing is where was she now? He pulled away from the group to peer around the corner.

There she was. Sat at the wall, chewing her lip impatiently.

"Hey!" William called out to her, a grin appearing on his face.

She glanced around a bit before she spotted him, her eyes widening a tad. She jumped up and charged at him, throwing her arms around him in a quick hug, neglecting to notice the group to her left.

"How the hell did you get out?" She demanded, aghast.

William blew out his cheeks, "Honestly, I jumped out a third floor window." He nodded.

She looked him up and down, "That's…!" She began heatedly, then thought about it for a second, noticing he was completely uninjured, "…actually kind of awesome. No broken bones or anything?"

"Thanks, and no. No broken bones, sprains, or bruises."

"Don't ever do it again, though." Felicity told him steadily.

"I think I could live with that." He agreed.

Felicity noticed the four others watching them, and waved awkwardly, "Hi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half asleep proof reading so sorry for any mistakes.


	7. Maryland, D.C

Agents Doggett and Reyes took them to an apartment twenty minutes or so from the Hoover building, giving them place to lay low. Nobody spoke in the car, each person preoccupied by their own thoughts.  
Upon reaching the apartment didn't take William long to work out that it was Doggett's.

The kind faced Agent Reyes turned her key in the lock and ushered them all quickly in with a smile to mask her obvious concern, glancing over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her.

William to a few steps forward to exit the crowded hallway, the apartment wasn't spacious, but as he entered the main living area large windows and pale furniture begun to give it a more open appearance. The group made themselves comfortable at the kitchen table, opting for it over the couches at the other end of the apartment. It didn’t seem appropriate for to sit on the couches for this conversation.

They talked about how William had been kept under constant surveillance whilst he was in care, since the day they'd rediscovered him as an orphaned baby on the Van De Kamp farm in Wyoming. How his 'Foster parents' had, since that day, been paid large sums for weekly reports on his activities, everything from the mildly unusual to wildly extraordinary. The group fell in and out of hushed tones, using clear whispers to speak their views before remembering it was highly improbable they were being recorded.

Agents Doggett and Reyes were stood back from the table that the small, slightly broken family was sat at. Wondering whether it was fair to observe, or whether they should leave. When no indication was given that they weren't wanted they stayed, but gave the others space to talk, keeping silent, and exchanging burdened glances.

Felicity sat beside William, keeping her opinions to herself and only interjecting to add factual input when it was needed.

They went on to discuss how the government had made sure he'd never been re-adopted, keeping him moving, and then contained him in a government 'orphanage' at age nine, and listed him under threat watch; all the while keeping him under control, subdued, quiet, as best they could. And then, William carefully and delicately decided it was time they knew about Noah.

"You were right by the way," William looked his father in the eyes almost nervously; "About Dr Heage's project. They tried to clone me, numerous times. It explains all the tests, I guess." William rubbed his chest, remembering the times where they'd taken samples of his bone marrow. That had been a particularly painful experience.

"Tried? So they never succeeded?" Scully inquired. Her eyes betrayed a strange mix of emotions, ranging from hellish anger at such violation of a child, her child, to something strange William couldn't decipher. The silence that followed had a heavy weight.

Felicity looked to William, interested to know what he would tell them, wondering if he needed her help. She pushed a file across the table.

William's eyes didn't know where to rest, but he knew he had to look in his mother's eyes, tell her the truth. It was good news anyway. That’s what he tried to convince himself of… but was it really?

"Actually," William almost croaked, and then cleared his throat, "They did have one success."

Mulder's skin paled, and yet his eyes widened in wonder as Scully gripped his hand a little tighter, her eyes begging for more.

"His name's Noah Macy." William didn't need to look at the File Felicity placed in front of him, he knew all of it. He tried to detached his emotions from the facts as he spoke, "He was born on the 7th of May 2010. He was 'their' first attempt and the only one that succeeded. His mother, or surrogate mother, was a 17 year old from Portland, Maine.” William tried not to choke, “He’s the only one that’s still alive.”

Scully and Mulder looked like they didn't know what to feel. Happy? Was this another miracle? Or was this a curse? That they should have even more to lose. Angry? That a child, or children, even, had been… manufactured… in such a way? Their child. Another son. Or was he really. It was difficult to know what to think or what emotion to let take hold.

William reached inside his top pocket and drew out the photo he'd removed from its frame last night. Now he knew to look for the extreme similarities between him and… his brother? The softly curled red hair ruffled in the wind, clear blue eyes shining, squinting to keep out the sand caught in the salty breeze, the corners of their mouths lifted, teeth bared in matching goofy smirks. Things weren't just similar, like with his father; they were the identical, separated only by six years of ageing. William looked away as he pushed it across the table toward his parents.

There was silence, and William didn't look at their expressions.

"You know him?" Mulder spoke up, a confused edge to his question.

"Yeah. He's at St Paul's. I've been watching out for him for the past year."

"And you never noticed the…" Agent Doggett began.

"Since until yesterday I thought human cloning impossible, No, the thought never crossed my mind." William snapped. Silence fell for a shocked second. He immediately felt terrible. "Sorry, Agent Doggett. I don’t know why I-"

"No, I spoke out of place. I'm sorry." Agent Reyes placed a hand on Doggett's arm as he spoke.

"You're a smart kid, William. I'm surprised they weren't worried about placing you two together. With all the orphanages and homes around the country, why risk it." Scully thought aloud, still analysing the photo in front of her. After the moment it took for her to come to terms with the news, a heartbroken softness had come over her. She touched the photo before her as though it might shatter in her hands and fade away.

William went say he didn't know when Felicity cleared her throat, "Actually, I've done some more poking around. St Paul's isn't just any home. Its façade is that it's a home for boys who aren’t suited to the foster system, boys with mild to severe mental or physical issues. Like Noah, who's been diagnosed with ADHD, and insomnia. And, William's friend, Micah, who's been treated for congenital heart defect. And William…"

He shot her a desperate look.

"William…" Felicity repeated, holding William's gaze tenderly. Understanding that this was maybe something William had to do himself.

William clenched his jaw, "I'll tell them."

She nodded.

Reyes's eyes fluttered downward, and she gently tugged on Doggett's wrist, guiding him from the room to leave the four of them alone.

William turned from Felicity to look his mother and father in the eyes. They both looked very concerned, which didn't help. "I began treatment for PTSD about six years ago; not long after during a night terror I had caused the foster home I was staying in to catch fire, killing my foster mother. I was transferred to St Pauls that night." He kept a blank expression.

Scully looked confused, but her hand slid across the table and captured William's firmly.

"I'm sensing that's not everything?" Mulder inquired further after a moment, directing attention back to Felicity.

"Well… it might be nothing. But honestly nothing about it seems to add up. Or rather, the facility in of itself it's pretty average, if you ignore the fact it's only nineteen years old, not much older than its eldest residents. However, the files on the boys admitted," Felicity glanced at William, "they all link back. It's weird. Their files are all linked back to files on Dr Heage and Project Facsimile… not directly, only tiny references that could be easily overlooked, but enough for it to be suspicious."

"More clones?" Mulder leant forward.

"What are you saying?" William gritted his teeth.

"I think maybe St Pauls isn't a home at all… I think it might be an experimental facility. If you look at the other boy's files, it becomes clear they're all born to very young mothers with no family. All of them, except Noah, were given up immediately after birth."

"Are you saying they're all clones?" William took in a sharp breath. "But Micah, he met his dad."

"Of a kind, yes. And, William, are you completely sure that was his father, not just some guy whose name got added to the birth certificate. What I'm saying I think maybe the orphanage was created to keep all the… products of Doctor Heage's project in one place, so they could be manipulated, controlled…" Felicity almost choked out the last bit, "experimented on. All the older clones seem to have been born with physical and psychological defects, now the younger ones only have psychological abnormalities and even then they've lessened dramatically."

"They're perfecting the project." Mulder leant back and grinded his teeth. 

"We have to get Noah out." William breathed. All those doctor's appointment, pills, injections. He'd blindly trusted them. Now they had his little brother. He should have taken Noah with him… but he hadn’t known.

William reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out an orange pill box. It was almost full. He'd forgotten to take them for a while now, going on a week. He considered taking of the lid and pouring the lot down the toilet. He didn't trust the stuff anymore, not when 'they'd' given them to him.

"William, can I see those?" Scully asked softly. He handed them to her, happy to give them away.

She turned the pot of pills over in her hand, the contents rattling. "Pills for your...?"

William nodded gravely, “I think so. They never told me what they were exactly though.”

She ran a finger along the sticker on the side, frowning, she tilted her head. Mulder seemed to read the expression at length and leant in to get a closer look, placing an arm over the back of her chair. Scully twisted off the cap and they both peered in.

William shot out his seat and hurried round to watch over her shoulder. Scully face morphed into an expression of disbelief.

"What is it?" Mulder said gruffly.

Scully tipped a few tiny green pills out into her palm, rolling one in-between her finger and thumb. "I… don’t know." She stated slowly, looking around to regard her son with a worried gaze.

"They're not?" William's heart leapt.

"No…" She lifted a green pill up to her nose, "William, these are... well I don’t know, but they’re not for PTSD." Scully looked down at the pills in her palm.

William face fell into his hands, pressing his fingers to his eyes in frustration, "Of course they’re not.”

Mulder took the orange pot from Scully to look inside, “Any idea what they are?”

"They’re some sort of drug meant to subdue me aren’t they?” William muttered darkly, looking back up. “I know they are.” Thinking about the last day or two, and how much clearer his mind had felt. He'd been more alert, more in control. Thinking back though, he noted the bursts of anger, shouting at Micah on the basketball court, getting snappy with Felicity, yelling at his mother, and the incident with Agent Doggett. He hadn’t been taking his pills. Every bit of anger and power and strength that had been smothered was boiling up inside him.

"William." Felicity said gently.

Scully wrapped her fingers round his wrist, "I'll do some tests as soon as I can, to see if I can find out.”

William half nodded, half shrugged. He just wanted to burn the tiny pot of medication to ashes with every flicker of fire it had kept him from. He wanted to burn it all to the ground.

“Does that mean you weren’t getting help for the PTSD?” Felicity voiced the question they were all thinking.

William bit his lip. “I think I’m probably worth more to them a little broken.”

Scully’s jaw was taught, she stood up purposefully. "Mulder... once we do this there's no way we can stay in the US. Not this time.”

"Where?" Mulder looked up at her searchingly.

"I don't know yet, Mulder. We’ll figure it out." Scully shook her head.

"No." William burst out, pushing away from the table and standing up. "I'm not running away."

"William." Scully put a hand on his where it rested on the back of her chair.

"No. I can't after everything I've learnt. If I just quit now… they win!" William stared into his father's unwavering eyes.

"William, I would love some justice for this, but there's none to be had. This is bigger than just us…" Scully regarded his son sorrowfully, an intense apology in her eyes.

"Exactly," William cried, "what are you going to do about all the other kids who've ended up as lab rats? Are we just going to leave them?"

Scully, not only as a human being, but as a paediatric doctor, and a mother, flinched at the suggestion.

"Scully,” Somehow Mulder managed to fit an entire heartfelt explanation into just her name.

“Mulder,” Scully implored him, softening her voice,“I'm just tired of fighting a war we can’t win...”

“I know, Scully,” Mulder reached out to her with a depth of understanding William could only guess at, “but William's right. We might be the only chance for those boys."

"Dr Scully, once the kids turn eighteen they're of no use to the project. Like first drafts, they're 'faulty'. And when they're no longer wards of the state they can't just allow them to walk free. Logically, they'd have to be detained or…disposed of." Felicity gulped at the unsavoury thought. "Also, there's something you might want to-"

Scully sighed, interrupting Felicity, after catching Mulder's heavy gaze, "Okay, but what do you want to do, Mulder. You want us to try and sneak a bus load of kids over the border with phony passports? That’ll look great."

Mulder’s face fell even further. He knew that would be impossible.

"We could find their parents?" Felicity spoke up. Fumbling she opened her laptop and brought up a list, "I did some research. These boys aren't just clones, they're clones of fresh embryos. It's the best way they could be sure of survival."

"Bet'cha Cloning don't come cheap." Mulder quipped.

Felicity continued, "The idea was to create them from stem cells, which aren't easily found in adults and older children. And, uh-"

"Except in places such as the bone marrow." William murmured, remembering simpler days sat on his hospital bed reading a medical encyclopedia and eating tootsie rolls. He rubbed the spot on his chest again. Recalling the large needle they'd stuck in him. So that explained that then.

"Which means?" Mulder prompted.

"It means these boys; technically, they're actually all twins or siblings of normal children born around the same time through IVF. The government has been abusing IVF facilities all over the country. Taking stem cells from the embryos of hopeful couples and manipulating the DNA to create cloned babies. They all have a sibling born around the time to a different mother, their biological mother."

"Unless that mother failed to carry the baby to term." Scully added.

"Either way, don't you think those couples deserve to know they have a kid out there? Especially if they failed to have any during or after the treatment." Felicity raised an eyebrow.

"What would we tell them?" Mulder asked. "Sorry, your own little sea monkeys were used to fuel a government conspiracy, here, have a kid." He joked cynically.

Scully rolled her eyes, "I don't know, Mulder. We tell them there was confusion during their IVF treatment. That one of their embryos was given to another couple who've died, and now the child is up for adoption. If they want them."

"And if they don't?" Mulder asked.

"I doubt it, but we'll deal with that if it comes to it."

"Um, yeah, there's something else I've been trying to mention." Felicity said a bit louder this time, three heads turned to look at her.

She cleared her throat, "There's one other file. On a child born in 2004. It's not connected to Project facsimile, or William… not directly anyway."

"Whose file?" Scully said.

"There's no name either, there's not much of anything on them really, but it's the only currently active file apart from William's or Noah's that has both yours and Mr Mulder's referenced in the coding."

"I don't follow?" Mulder folded his arms, his full attention now focused on Felicity.

"It suggests that… Is there even a small possibility that before they perfected cloning they could have…" Felicity fidgeted, "tried to recreate William another way?"

She was greeted by three heavy stares.

"You mean, used 'stuff' left over from our abductions to create another child." Scully said, overwhelmed.

Mulder turned seriously to look to Scully, “We’re going to need a bigger house. Fancy yourself in a mini-van, Scully?" He cracked a smile.

"It's not funny, Mulder." Scully huffed.

"What does the file say?" William asked, ignoring his parents.

"It just has a title, 'R-04', then a date, 8/11/2004, and the words, 'Status: presently viable'." Felicity reiterated the words on the screen.

"Alive." Scully translated.

"We'll deal with that later; we have to figure out a plan of some description. Firstly, we're going to need papers." Mulder voiced his thoughts.

"I can make some convincing adoption papers and birth certificates for any kids you find the families of." Felicity piped up.

“Really?” Scully raised a brow.

Felicity reached down and pulled a folder out of her bag, “I didn’t know what I’d need to have to find my brother so I allowed for the possibilities.”

"Can you make new birth certificates for Noah and William?”  
“Yeah.. Yeah, I think so.”

“Thank you, Felicity." Mulder sent her a smile.

"William." Scully pulled her son aside, away from the table and Mulder and Felicity. "About the birth certificates…"

They stood by the window, the sun high in the sky, setting William and Scully's hair alight. She took her son's hand as he towered over her.

"Yeah about that," William gulped, "Would you mind, at all… if I took the surname Mulder? Noah too?"

Connecting with Mulder had come less easily than with Scully. William wasn’t sure they really had yet, to be honest, they hadn’t had a real chance to talk. He wanted to though. He really wanted to.

"Funnily enough that's what I was going to ask. I know it would mean a lot." Scully reached up and straightened William's collar, then pulled her hands back sharply. As though it was forbidden to touch.

"It's okay." He told her, taking her hands in his and giving them a reassuring squeeze.

William moved away from her to go and stand behind Felicity, "Could you put Mulder as the surname on mine and Noah's birth certificates." He told her evenly.

Mulder looked up from the papers on Noah he was studying across the table, lips parted and eyes heavy with gratitude. William knew he must be thinking about all the other's who'd shared that name. His parents. His little sister. All gone but him now.

There were a dozen or so Scully's out there, but until now there'd been only one Mulder.

"Guess you're not the only Mulder anymore, Dad." William said shyly, sending him a thin smile "You're going to have to share." He'd noticed his father, like himself, was not much of a social creature, and preferred only to interact primarily with Scully. But in that moment William felt an almost breath taking connection with the man as he looked into his appreciative hazel green eyes. He knew that if this were how special his mother felt when she looked into them, no wonder they couldn't stop gazing at each other.

"Do you want a middle name? I'll keep Lucas for Noah's one." Felicity turned to William expectantly.

"Uh…" William stuttered. "I.."

"Samuel." Scully said suddenly. She directed her gaze to Mulder, and then back to William.

"That's settles it then. It may take a while to do them all though." Felicity warned.

Mulder moved to put an arm around William, who wasn't far off matching him in height, "What do you say we pay Noah's mother a visit then?"

Scully looked up.

"The surrogate? Abbigail Macy?" William frowned.

"I have a hunch she's our best bet at getting any new information." Mulder nodded to Felicity.

"I do have address if you want it." Felicity said. "She's a lawyer in Maryland." Felicity scribbled an address down on a corner of a piece of paper and ripped it off, handing it to William.

"You coming, Scully?" Mulder turned to ask.

"I think someone should stay with Felicity, just in case. I’m going to try and find a way to run some test on that medication." Scully smiled sadly, crossing her arms.

Mulder regarded her a moment. "Scully." He said, placing a hand on her waist, "Are you sure?" He murmured as their eyes met, "I know how much it would mean to you to meet her."

Scully's hands drifted absentmindedly to his elbows, running her hands up his upper arms slightly, "Mulder, I’m fine." She smiled reassuringly.

"We’ll be as quick as we can.” Mulder regarded her, breaking eye contact and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Scully nodded, "See you in a couple of hours."

 

"This is definitely it? It’s nice… I think." Mulder looked up at the clear cut, modern apartment building standing before them. French windows led out to balcony's painted white, and inside he could see open plan, airy apartments, lavishly furnished.

William blew out his cheek and nodded, rereading the address scrawled onto the scrap of paper, "Abbigail Macy. Apartment B2, 12 Rivene Avenue, Colwood Way, Silver Spring, Maryland, DC." He moistened his lips, "Looks like she did okay in the end."

"Yeah," Mulder said, distracted. He started to walk toward the front entrance. Then froze for a moment, before shaking his head at his own uncertainty and pressed the buzzer for apartment B2.

After a few laboured seconds a young woman's voice filtered disjointedly through the speaker, "Jack, if you've forgotten your key card again I swear going to throttle you." She spoke in a strong but playful tone.

Mulder turned to share a look with William.

"Sorry, is this Abbigail Macy?" Mulder asked, smiling.

"Who's this?" The crackly voice sounded a little colder this time.

"Someone who needs to speak with you." Mulder was reluctant to divulge any information he didn't need to give.

"What about?" Short, sharp and suspicious.

Mulder sighed into the mic, "It's about Noah."

There was another heavy silence, "Who are you?"

"Please Miss Macy, just let me up and you'll see." Mulder was getting a little overwhelmed and impatient.

William reached out and lightly gripped his father's forearm, “She’s going to open the door.” He told him.

After a small while the front door buzzed open and William followed his father inside. William hurried then slowed as he walked up the flights of stairs, not sure what to expect from this meeting.

The door opened, and they were faced with a well-dressed, latino woman in her mid to late 20's. She had short chestnut coloured hair with bangs, and almond shaped, calculating dark eyes. She was shorter than William but probably average height overall, and her shoulders were squared in a take-no-nonsense fashion, which matched the expression on her face.

"It's Mrs Abbigail Reilly, actually." She corrected them tartly.

Then, taking in William's appearance; the red hair, the pale skin, the shape of his features, and most of all the huge blue eyes, the same as his mother’s, Abbigail Macy's attitude faltered. It morphed into one more of shock, and her lips parted in bewilderment as she eyed William. Her lips mouthing Noah's name.

"Come in." She breathed.

The apartment consisted of a lot of dark wood and cream fabrics. The air held a clean smell, like new parchment and freshly washed linen. They followed Abbigail through and to the right. A large young Labrador slept soundly on a huge dog bed in the corner of the sitting room, next to the dog was an extensive book case, packed with oversized law books, on the other side of the animal light poured through a pair of French doors leading out onto a small balcony. In the other corner a TV made its home next to a sound system, opposite them a small couch and two arm chairs sat around a coffee table.

Once William and Mulder were settled on the couch, Abbigail spoke again, more gently than before, “Who are you?”

"I'm Fox Mulder, and this my son William… Mulder." The corner of Mulder’s mouth twitched upward.

Abbigail sat, not quite gracefully, in the armchair across from them. She rubbed her eye and sucked in a breath, "I don’t understand."

“We’ll come to that.” William said.

“Is Noah… okay?” She asked.

"We don't know." William answered simply and truthfully, the question made him anxious. The emotion pressed down on his chest and made his heart ache. He had no way of knowing what they were doing with Noah. It was his fault too. If he'd never left Noah would be safe. He could have taken Noah with him. He should have taken care of him better.

Abbigail blinked, processing the information, pain present in her eyes, "What do you want to know?"

"Anything you can tell us." Mulder perched on the edge of his seat.

“I don’t even understand who you are?” Abbigail told him.

“I’m… I'm Noah’s father.” Mulder nodded in William’s direction.

Abbigail nodded jerkily, processing the news, "I know, I can see it. I always wondered whether this would happen one day, and you deserve to know. I'm guessing you didn't know about what was going on?"

"I'm still not sure I do." Mulder admitted.

Abbigail Reilly looked up to the heavens, thinking back, it took a minute before she began her tale. "I was sixteen. As an orphan I was completely unattached, I was healthy, and penniless, but I had potential academically, and I had ambition. I was exactly what they were looking for. One day in the summer of 2009, I was approached by a woman. She said she represented a medical facility that was willing to pay for private lessons, my college tuition, and financial stability for the rest of my life, if… I agreed to carry a child for the program."

William leant forward to listen closer.

"I thought it was all a bit strange, but, it was my future on a silver platter. So… I signed the contract and didn't ask too many questions. I knew something was off from the start. I guess I ignored it, mostly out of fear. I didn't want to cause trouble. I thought I couldn't possibly get attached to him either, since, you know, he wasn't technically mine." Abbigail shook her head, smiling sadly at her own naivety. "But then I got bored one day waiting for an appointment, not long before I was due, so I went and had a little wander around the facility." Her expression turned sour. "I saw things that made me uneasy. It was the first time I really began to question what they wanted children for, and what part I was playing in it. I knew what the right thing to do was. As soon as I could after he was born-"

"You ran away?" William nodded in understanding.

Abbigail had a faraway look now, "I was willing to sacrifice my entire future for Noah. You should have seen him as a baby. He was the sweetest little one, with his huge blue eyes, the toothless crooked smile. One little giggle from him and I just about forgot the world existed. Just imagine."

"Yeah," Mulder said, peering at William out the corner of his eye with such emotion it sent a warmth spreading down his spine that engulfed him. There was sadness and regret in the warmth though, of an opportunity missed. William still didn’t understand his father’s absence in the early days of his life, but he could guess at the motivation for it, because there was no doubting Mulder regretted not being there.

"Those big blue eyes." Abbigail said, acknowledging William's appearance.

He didn't think it was worth explaining to her the situation with him and Noah she obviously wasn't aware of, so he just smiled politely.

"Yes." Mulder agreed, "It seems all of them got their mother’s eyes." He smiled sadly at the floor, hands clasped.

The words took William back to the X Files office; looking at the photo of the cute blue eyed little girl with the blonde bob. Emily. William knew the girl's death must still affect his mother. As a doctor Emily’s loss must have felt a personal failure beyond measure. As a mother, it must have pained her in ways she’d never admit. She'd have been nearly 24 now, near enough the age of the young woman sat in front of him. He wondered what it might be like to have a sister. Was it different from having a brother?

William got up, and strolled past the slumbering dog over to the bookcase, Abbigail's eyes following him. He ran his fingers over the books, reaching the photo albums, he was about to turn away when a thin album, bound in yellow fabric caught his eye. 'Noah' was stitched on the side in blue.

William flipped it open and looked upon a large photo of a very pink, very tiny, naked newborn, curled up on a white blanket. A white band placed around his small wrist. The baby had delicate, pale red hair. His face was scrunched up tight, adorned with a nose perhaps a little too big for his face, his tiny pink lips puckered the way new-born's lips do, and his eyelids tightly closed, but William knew were open they'd be as big and blue as he remembered.

Abbigail carried on with her story, "I managed to make my way for a few years, but they found us. Noah was four at the time. They offered to give me what they'd promised, all of it, if I gave him up without a fuss."

"And?" Mulder asked, he sat on the very edge of the couch.

"They were going to take him anyway. They'd probably have pried him from my cold dead hands if they had too. I didn't see the point of making it that traumatic, for myself, and for Noah." Her words dripped with guilt and remorse. Her telling them this, was this her way of trying to redeem herself for not fighting for her son?

"Is there anything else you remember?" William pushed, slapping the album shut.

Abbigail's eyes flickered around in a paranoid fashion. She grabbed a note pad and pen off the coffee table, scrawling something on a page of it; she ripped it out and handed it to Mulder. Muttering, "Lord, if they knew…"

"What is this?" Mulder frowned, reading and rereading the writing.

"Where 'it' is." Abbigail raised a brow, eyes piercing.

William could guess what she meant. The facility she was kept at. It might be the hub of the answers they were looking for.

Mulder tucked the paper inside his jacket pocket, "Thank you."

Abbigail nodded, "You better get going. Its best you're gone when Jack gets home. I've told him bits and pieces, but you know…"

William guessed that was her husband, the man from the wedding photo that was placed on the shelf at his eye line. A tall, sandy-haired, bearded man with a sweet face and a wide smile.

Mulder stood and shook Abbigail's hand gratefully, and William followed suit, smiling crookedly at the young woman.

Abbigail ushered them to the door, "Good luck." she wished them sincerely. "He'll be okay. I can tell. You want to know why I chose the name Noah, it means long lived. If you ever need help, you know where I am." With that William and Mulder walked away.

William felt it before it even happened. It hit him like a punch in the face, staggering under the force of it as a shot of agonising pain coursed through his frontal lobe, causing him to grasp his forehead with a gasp. From then on everything seemed to go in slow motion.

William stumbled, disorientated, half way down the stairs when the gunshot rang out. No firecrackers this time. William reacted immediately, he thundered back up the stairs despite his father's urgent protests. Collapsing into kneel beside Abbigail Macy's body; he was just about lucid enough to remember not to touch. She had been so very alive, but now her eyes were glazed over and empty of the intelligent glint that had been there previously.

The Labrador in the corner was awake now, hackles up, and barking loudly.

"No," William hissed, noticing the blood trickling lazily from the bullet hole in Abbigail's right temple. He'd never seen a dead body this close before, and the empty eyes irked him. He wasn't naive enough to check for a pulse. It was done.

A hand grabbed the shoulder of his jacket urgently, "William, there's nothing to be done, we have to go, now!"

"No." William exhaled, chin tremoring, his mouth down-turned. Abbigail Reilly wasn’t perfect, but she’d deserved much more than this ending.

William's eyes travelled up and to the right, where he could see the wedding photo on the bookshelf. There was nothing he could do to fix this. He had to leave, and Abbigail's young husband would come home to find the love of his life laid lifeless and bloody on their carpet. No explanation. No justice. No arrest. No charges. William's stomach convulsed.

The album. William staggered purposefully, regaining strength in his legs, he fell to his knees at the bookshelf, removing Noah's photo album from it.

“William! Put it back!” Mulder warned him.

The dog next to him growled, backing away, unsure of who the enemy was. He gripped the book tight as his father tugged him to his feet.

"William, now!" Mulder pulled at William’s jacket, hauling him sharply off the floor, and tugging him toward the door.

"They just killed her." William breathed, gasping for air.

Mulder gripped his son’s shoulder with one hand and turned his face toward him with the other, forcing William to look at him, "William, listen to me. We have to get out of here, right now."

He nodded, allowing Mulder to tug him swiftly past Abbigail Reilly's warm body.

His mother was right; there was no room for justice here.


	8. Coordinates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my end of term essays in, thought it was about time i started to try and finished this.

By the time they were back in the car and speeding fast away from the horror of Abbigal Macy’s bloodied form, William could feel panic rising everywhere. His chest got tight, like his ribs were being slowly crushed, his skin felt stretched across them. Hot and cold flowed in waves over him. He gasped a little at the sensation. His breathing hastening. William could feel the insistent, rising pace of his heart in his ears. The panic became his world, and his vision began to blur.

 “What’s wrong?” Mulder was frantically trying to both watch the road ahead, and attempt to gage what battle was raging behind his son’s eyes. William was too distracted to take in his question.

 “Pull over.” William rasped, pressing his face against the cool window, eyes tightly closed and watering, skin heated. Deep outward breaths misting the glass.

 Mulder hesitated a second.

 “Pull over!” William roared.

 Mulder swerved into the side of the road, bumping up on the curb. The car behind them beeped.

 William threw open the car door with no regard for the oncoming traffic. He staggered round the front of the car, using the bonnet to aid him onto the grass at the side of the road, his eyes still blurry. Unsure of his legs he fell to his knees and clutched at the ground with his fingers, dirt collecting under his nails as they sank into the earth, clinging to the planet with all his strength. Breathing rapid, his stomach convulsed.

 His father knelt down opposite him placing one hand on his left shoulder and another on the back of his sweaty neck. His voice was clear, “William, listen. I’m here to help. Concentrate on your breathing.”

 William almost choked as he forced his breathing to regulate. Sucking in air, waiting, pushing it out again. The heat on his skin began to recced, and his chest loosen. William’s head fell into the crook of Mulder’s shoulder. A tear seeping into his shirt. William tried to place the smell of him, it was like freshly printed books, landury detergent, and damp forest earth. It calmed him. His muscles went lax, the adrenaline vanishing. Seeping away.

 “What’s happening to me?” He said simply, his voice hushed.

 “I think you just had an attack of some sort.” Mulder had an arm round William with a hand gripping his shoulder firmly, keeping his son to him.

 “I’m sorry.” William murmured, his tone weepy.

 “Oh, Will. It’s not your fault.” Mulder’s voice was like a whisper, his other hand moved to the back of William’s head where it rested on Mulder’s shoulder. Cars still zoomed past them.

 “I’m why they’re dead. Mr and Mrs Van de Kamp, Mrs Stacy, Abbigail Macy. It’s my fault.”

 “No, William.” Mulder placed his hands on William’s shoulders and pushed him gently away so he could look him in the eyes.

 “I’m so afraid I’m going to get one of you killed.” William whispered, his eyes flickering to the ground and head hanging a little.

 “William, I was risking my life for this long before you were even a possibility.” Mulder softly admitted. “Before I’d even met Scully. You can’t begin to blame yourself for things that haven’t and may never happen, and you were so young, you can’t blame yourself for losses you couldn't control. It’ll tear you apart. Trust me.” Mulder’s heart plummeted at the pain displayed on his child’s young face. More pain than any average eighteen year old should have to bear, more of a weight than even he had had to bear at William's age.

 “I just want you guys to be safe.” William’s wet eyes rose to meet Mulder’s.

 “We’ll be careful, but this isn't just your fight anymore, William. You can’t stop us from helping. You’re not our protector, for gods sake, I know you’re smart, but you’re a kid.” He paused. “Our kid. We’re supposed to look out for you, not the other way around. I know the family dynamic is beyond unorthodox here, but you need to remember that.”

 “I don’t know, seems like Mom’s already got one big kid to deal with.” William raised his eyebrows, and Mulder cracked a small smile.

“Nice. Thank you for that.” He half hauled, half guided, William off the ground. “We should get moving.”

Mulder began to lead William toward the car when he spoke, “Can I see that bit of paper she gave you?”

Mulder paused, “Who?”

“Abbigail? You still have it right?” William furthered.

“Sure, top pocket. Let’s …uh, we should get back in the car and keep moving. I don’t like the idea of us sticking around here.” Mulder didn't want to say outright that there was a chance the shooter might not be against planting a bullet in either of their head’s as well, but William caught the subtext.

“What’s that?” William murmured as they reached the vehicle, referring to the odd dents that had made themselves a home in the car bonnet.

William moved closer, Mulder’s grip on him loosening. They were strange; five dents, deep enough to perhaps call holes instead, placed randomly apart, five different depths and widths. William placed his left hand beside them, slowly sliding it closer, till his fingers and thumb slipped snugly into the dents.

“Oh my god.” He whispered. He remembered using the car to guide himself onto the grass. William lifted his hand out to examine the flecks of aluminium caught underneath his fingernails.

“Will, I’m sorry. We need to go.”

“Yeah,” William breathed, oblivious to Mulder’s words.

“Now, William.” Mulder grabbed him by the shoulders and tugged him round to the passenger side. “Get in.” He ordered, his gaze not on William but everywhere else. His eyes flickered over their surroundings, looking for any sign of a threat or follower.

 Scully’s gaze shot up to meet Mulder’s as he barged through the front door, tugged William in after him, and slammed it shut. Scully moved to check on Willliam as Mulder moved to the window, peeking out through the blinds, looking for any sign of movement.

Scully finished checking William over for any sign of physical injury, “What happened, Mulder?” She demanded to know.

“Abbigail Macy is dead. One round clean through the temporal.” Mulder turned to face Scully and tapped the side of his head with one index finger to indicate where Abbigail had been shot.

Scully froze, “Could they have followed you?”

Mulder shook his head slowly as he lower himself onto the couch, placing his head in his hands, “No… no, I don’t think so.” He murmured.

“We should get moving soon anyway.” Scully stated.

Mulder nodded, his head still in his hands. He leant back into the couch and let his hands drop to his lap, staring up at the ceiling.

“Skinner’s here.” Scully said.

Mulder’s head snapped round, “Hm?”

The door swung open and Felicity appeared with a pile of neatly folded laundry, closely followed by a grim looking former assistant director Skinner, bald and bespectacled as ever.

“Sir?” Mulder frowned.

“Mulder.” He replied.

Mulder paused, “Good to see you.”

“Yes, just wish it was under different circumstances.”

“How did you know we were here?” Mulder stood, making his way over to the table where Felicity had just set down the pile of washing.

“In Washington?" He paused, “…Doggett called me.”

“Oh yeah? Where did he and Reyes run off to by the way?”

Skinner chewed his lip, “They went to take care of some things for me.”

“Mom,” When William finally spoke it was shaky, “There’s a specific reason they shot Abbigail Macy.” William reached into his pocket and pulled out a bit of paper with two fingers and handed it to Scully. Noah's photo album still gripped tightly in his other hand.

Unfolding the paper she frowned.

William peered over her shoulder to read the message once again.

_‘39.014948, -77.890726’_

“They’re coordinates for a facility she talked about. We just have to put them into a GPS and we’ve got the location. If we’re looking for answers that’s where we’ll find them.” He explained what he had figured out a good 10 minutes ago.

“And what are you planning on doing once you get there?” Skinner’s arms where crossed.

“…Haven’t got that far yet.” William muttered, “Anyway, we’re going to go get Noah first.” He looked from Scully to Mulder, who both nodded in agreement.

* * *

 

The door creaked open and the light switched on, “Lunch?”

William sat up. He’d been lying down on the bed in the spare room. After hearing about his panic attack Scully had insisted he go relax for a while . He’d been lying in the dark, unable to get rid of the tension, for a good half an hour now.

“I’m not very hungry.” He answered.

Felicity sighed, coming to sit on the edge of the bed, “William, you didn't have breakfast. Please just eat the sandwich.” She handed him a plate with a peanut butter sandwich and a banana on.

“Thanks.” He took a bite, the peanut butter sticking to his teeth.

There was a pause. The only sound was William chomping and faint murmuring coming from the kitchen down the hall.

Felicity broke the quiet, “You doing okay?” She seemed upset? Distracted? Angry? William couldn't pin it down. He considered taking a ‘peek’ for a second but then decided against it, looking at people's thoughts, meddling with their minds. He didn't want to sink to the level of the people that'd taken so much from him.

He took a break from eating, “I’ll be better when we have Noah.”

“Yeah.” Felicity said simply, staring disconnected into space.

William put his food down and took her hand evenly in his, “We’ll find him too, Felicity. We’ll find Jonah.”

“Yeah.” She said again, with conviction, still staring into nothing.

William cleared his throat and put his plate to one side, “Thank you… for the laundry. I was running out of clean clothes.”

The corner’s of Felicity’s mouth turned up in a smile, “I noticed.”

William leant forward took placed his other hand on the side of her face and turned it, “Seriously, thanks, Felicity.”

She met his eyes, her own bigger and a more deep brown than ever, and nodded a little.

“William!” He heard Mulder yell from the kitchen.

William cursed internally. This couldn't be good. He was a mess of limbs as he half ran half skidded out the bedroom door and down the corridor toward the yell.

“William…” Mulder didn't look at his son, his eyes were focused on the small TV screen on the kitchen counter, as were everyone elses. Mulder stood with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed. Scully watched the screen also, her eyes analytic. She sat at the kitchen table, papers still in her hand, Felicity’s counterfeiting supplies and equipment spread out in front of her.

William swore loudly.

Scully sent him a frown but said nothing.

The smartly dressed man on the TV was stood outside the ‘West Chester Police station’, holding a microphone in his left hand, _‘…eighteen year old resident of West Chester, Philadelphia following her disappearance over 48 hours ago. It is believed she made have been abducted by William Van de Kamp, a troubled eighteen year old from Denville, New Jersey, who was previously believed to be an abductee himself. Due to Penelope Parker’s parentage, her father ,New York’s police commissioner, Richard Parker, the FBI themselves have been called upon to lead the investigation into her disappearance.’_

This time it was Mulder that cursed.

_‘Penelope Parker is more commonly known as Felicity, although the police say the two teenagers are likely to be travelling under different names. Any information anyone may have about these two teenagers is to be brought directly to the attention of the FBI at the number below.’ A banner rolled out across the bottom of the screen to display a phone number._

Then the screen switched to reveal a thin-lipped man, with silver in his short, dark hair, who William would guess to be around his early to mid 50s. He was dressed smartly in a dark suit and tie, paired with a grim, cold expression. He looked into the camera with familiar brown eyes.

Felicity made a small noise, a little like a whimper.

A new banner appeared across the bottom of the screen reading, _‘Police Commissioner Parker (father of Penelope Felicity Parker)’_

_“We just want her home safe. My wife is distraught. After the loss of our son…” Felicity’s father’s eyes fell to look at his hands where they rested intertwined tightly on the table, his chin trembled just a little, “…to lose Felicity as well. It would be unbearable.”_

The picture morphed again this time to show an image of young man, no more than twenty one, grinning widely in a brand new Air Corps uniform. His hair was short, dark and curly, his smile matched Felicity’s in every way. He looked lean but strong, stood with his feet a shoulder width apart, his shoulder’s squared, hands behind his back. Ready for the world.

William heard a muffled gasp emanate from behind him, and closed his eyes tight.

_‘William Jonah Parker died in action on the 12 th of November last year after being a member of the US air corps for less than 2 years. He was well-loved among his peers as ‘quiet but good-spirited’. His death left Felicity as Commissioner and Mrs Parker’s only child.’_

Someone switched the TV off. William didn't know who.

 _‘William.’_ He repeated the name in his head till it lost it’s meaning. It’s history. Till it could belong to anyone.

 So Felicity’s brother’s first name was William…

William turned to look at her. Felicity’s hands covered her face and her shoulder’s shook. He moved over to her and pulled her in, tucking her head under his chin. He felt tears drop onto the front of his shirt.

“We really need to get our asses on the road now.” Mulder said urgently, beginning to gather together all the papers left on the table.

“I’ll get the car started.” Skinner said gruffly.

Scully grabbed Mulder’s arm and muttered something to him, taking a plastic carrier out of her bag and pushed it toward him across the table. He nodded and looked up at William, taking the carrier. Walking over he pulled William aside.

“Did you speak to anyone before you met us? Or before you broke into the Hoover building?”

“Uh…” William frowned, “The guy at the motel we stayed at. The receptionist at the hospital.” He paused. “There was also a policeman, he woke us up this morning when we were sleeping in the car.”

Mulder gritted his teeth, placing the plastic carrier into William’s hand, “Go to the bathroom. Take Felicity with you. Be as quick as you can.”

William nodded, slipping his hand into Felicity’s, who was still a little out of it. He led her down the hall, opened the door to the bathroom and directed her inside.

“What is it?” She asked shakily, gesturing to the bag.

William didn't answer, he simply opened the carrier and pulled out two boxes of hair dye and a two sets of coloured contact lenses.

William caught his breath, “Which do you want?”

Felicity crossed her arms, obviously reluctant, but aware that this was necessary, “I’ll take the darkest hair… and I guess it makes sense for me to have the blue contacts.”

William nodded solemnly, handing them to her.

Her hair slipped off her shoulder as she turned away. The way it contrasted, dark maple brown fading, further, further, down to pale gold. She tried to sweep it over her shoulder so she could remove her piercings cleanly. William stepped forward to help, using a hand to smooth it away from her ear, gathering her hair in his hands to hold it out the way. He ran a thumb over the strands as she was preoccupied with removing her piercings. He eventually let it fall through his fingers. It was a petty thing to miss in all of this, but he would miss it.

He let Felicity go first. Mixing the dye and rubbing it into her scalp, he was sure he heard her sob. Today had been overwhelming, he didn't blame her.

While she sat on the toilet seat as he put the dye in his hair. Then they sat in silence.

“I know it sounds stupid…” Felicity began, “but out of all the things I've had to do to find Jonah. Running away. Getting dragged into a government conspiracy. Breaking numerous laws. This is what I regret the most.” She furrowed her brow and looked at him; sat across from her on the edge of the bathtub, hunched over, waiting. “I feel like I’m losing myself along the way.”

William nodded, “It’s time.”

He helped her wash the her out and she left him to  wait a little longer for his to take hold. William decided this was probably as good a time as any to put in the contacts. He picked up the box, ‘Hazel’, and ripped it open. It took him a good few times to get them in, poking himself in the eyes until they were red. He sat back down again.  After a couple of minutes her leant over the bath and ran the water, washing out the remains of the dye.

William cleaned up the boxes, and picked up the extra contact lenses, leaving the bathroom as clean as possible. He opened the door and turned the corner, rubbing at his hair with a carefully chosen brown towel. He felt his hair begin to curl. William found the door to the guest room and went in, glad to see his clean change of clothes on the bed. He slipped into them, pulling the sweater over his head and straightening his collar. His short hair was almost dry. He hadn’t even bothered to glance in a mirror yet.

William stuffed the last of his things in his backpack, turned off the light and left.

“You read-” Mulder stood up and faltered as William entered the kitchen.

Scully’s head shot up, and her eyes widened.

William suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious, touching his hair meekly, “It looks that bad huh?”

“No… no, it’s great.” Scully said.

Felicity walked right past William, grabbing her pack and slinging it over her shoulder. “We good to go?” She looked around at everyone in turn.

William took a minute to take in her appearance. For a moment it was hard to believe it was her. Her now dark brown hair was tied up in a ponytail and her bright blue eyes pierced into him from under dark eyebrows. The colours made her features look sharper, more defined. She looked older somehow.

“Uh…” William blew out his cheeks and threw his gaze to the ceiling, processing the very simple question, “I think so?” He looked to his parents.

“Skinner’s in the car.” Scully offered.

Mulder tipped his head appreciatively, “Let’s hit the road, kids.”

As they filed out the door William caught his reflection in a mirror above the shoe cubbies.  His hand rose to the side of his face. His hair, the shade of it, dark brown, the colour of his eyes, a hazel-green. He looked more like Fox Mulder than he’d thought before. I guessed Scully must have picked these colours out on instinct, oblivious to her reason. Some of the dye had run down his face and got caught on the fine stubble around his mouth and jaw, darkening it, making him look older.

“William?” Felicity popped her head round the door to see what was taking so long.

“Huh?” He replied.

“Plenty of time to gaze at yourself later.”

William huffed, “Funny.”

* * *

 

“Where are you rushing off too in such a hurry?” Agent Doggett called out as he climbed out the driver’s side of a silver Volvo.

“Save the world.” Mulder grinned, pausing as he clambered into the passenger side of Skinner’s car.

“Well, we’re coming with you.” Monica Reyes declared, poking her head out the other side of the Volvo.

Mulder looking down to where Scully sat in the back seat. She gave a half-nod.

“Ok. A party of seven. Isn't that poetic.” He muttered more to himself than anyone else as he got in the car.

* * *

 

“Why don’t we just get a bit clo-”

William urgently hushed her, sending her a warning look.

They were crouched behind a large shrub out by the St Paul’s basketball court where William had often played with Micah.

“How long un-” Felicity began.

“Felicity!” William hissed.

She muttered a half-hearted apology.

“What are you waiting for?” A quiet voice asked from behind them.

William’s hand went out instinctively to protect himself as he turned around, “Damn it, Micah!”  Micah crumpled, groaning and clutching his nose, which William had hit square on.

Felicity stumbled over a tree root in her attempted to turn round to see what was happening.

William stood there as his friends both lay on the floor groaning in mild pain. “Micah, what the hell did you think you were doing?”

“Thought it would be funny.” He defended, as William helped Felicity haul herself back up.

“Yeah, well we’re a bit on edge.” William said shortly.

“Ya think!” Micah laughed, and then moaned and clutched his nose one more time for effect.

“We saw soldiers coming in… what’s going on?” Felicity asked Micah as he stood up straight, towering over her.

“Who are you?” He frowned at Felicity, “And for matter of fact, Will, didn't recognise you for a sec. What did you do?” Micah reached out to touch William’s hair.

William squatted him away, “Can you please just answer the question.” He sighed.

“They arrived the day after you left. They let us go about our business mostly, but we can’t leave. And…” Micah trailed off.

“And?” William prompted.

Micah almost couldn't look at William, “Noah’s gone. The morning after you left, he just didn't turn up to breakfast, so I went to check on him, and there were soldiers packing up all his things into suitcases.”

William froze, something akin to rage rising under his skin. He didn't want to lose control right now.

“Hey, William,” Felicity tried to get through to him, “They packed his things into suitcases, okay, that means they have him alive somewhere. We just have to find him. We’re going to get him back.” She tried to reason with him.

William nodded, his shoulders still squared, “I need to tell Mom and Dad…”

“You found them!” Micah grinned genuinely.

“Yeah. Micah, we have a lot to talk about, a lot, but now’s probably not the time.”

Felicity suddenly cursed, pushing Micah to the ground, and shoving William behind a tree.

William gasped, “Felic-”

She hushed him with gritted teeth, looking out into the clearing where the basketball court was, her face fell. From that second everything seemed to turn to slow motion. Felicity ran out toward the clearing, Micah tried to grab her but missed. William threw caution to the wind and ran after her, straight into the eye-line of two soldiers. He grabbed her arm to stop her running further toward him.

One was tall, clean shaven, and dark skinned, with his hand on his gun. His eyes wide and conflicted at the thought of shooting an unarmed teenage girl.

The second soldier owned a face William had seen before, his eyes round and deep brown mahogany, his hair short, dark, and curly, and a shadow of stubble around his jaw. He was shorter than the first soldier, a more average height, and hadn't moved to unholster his gun. His face was a picture of shock.

“Felicity?” He muttered questioningly.

William heard her let out a sigh of labored relief.

Jonah patted the first soldier’s shoulder, “It’s okay, Elias.”

Felicity ran straight up to him and into his arms, pressing her face into his chest, a tear rolling down her cheek.

The soldier named Elias holstered his gun.

“I’m sorry,” Jonah wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I hate you.” She said, the sound muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

“I know.” He nodded.

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest I’m not sure people even still read X-files fics, so it you want this story to continue could you please review so I know if there’s enough interest. Thanks for reading guys it means a lot.


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